July 20th, 2011 – 10 Night Mediterranean "Mickey's European Explorers"

[msabol01]

****Update we are renaming the cruise since we were displaced from the August 10th 10 night Med Cruise*****

If you're on the July 20th, 2011 Magic Med Cruise please stop in and say HELLO!

Also, drop in and check out Andrew DEREK UK's June 30th meets thread for some great planning information HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2288346). I'm also pasting the main points below. Thanks again Sir Andrew! :worship:

(please note - I'm longer sailing on this cruise but feel free to PM me for any changes or updates to the main thread)
-----------------------------------
LONDON TO PARIS

Http://www.eurostar.com/dynamic/index.jsp

VIRGIN ATLANTIC
Http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb...gYjbbo4XFjWWqf Iaz4XA1HSuy4UTKIbKP9ACr!-1112292905!174843410!8001!7002
BRITISH AIRWAYS
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb
DISNEY UK/ LINK TO DLP

Http://www.disney.co.uk/

BARCELONA HOTELS
Http://www.catalunya.co.uk/
Http://www.netpz.co.uk/hotel_spain_h...ona_hotels.htm
UP THE COAST
Http://www.apartmentspain.co.uk/blanes.htm
DCLS HOTEL (I THINK)
Http://www.grandmarinahotel.com/
SHORE TRIPS IN EUROPE IDEAS
Http://www.celebritycruises.co.uk/pages/home.php
CAR HIRE SPAIN
http://www.carhireinspain.com/index.php?cID=70





TRAIN DLP TO BARCELONA
the train to Barcelona from paris is the Elipsos
Here is a link to a virtual tour - you can tour each type of room. To get a detailed floorplan, click on the little floor plan shown with the tour. There is luggage space located above the corridor. Some of the rooms have a small recessed space that might hold some luggage.

http://www.elipsos.com/flash/paseo/lnkpaseo.htm


Below is links for private tours, I posted one in 2006 but deleted it and cannot find it but this one here is similar and is partly based on a post by MV_Photon who put a lot of work into it.

Barcelona
• www.pepitotours.com/private-tours-barcelona.html Jose Soler
http://wwguides.com/forums/member.php?u=243
• www.gobarcelona.com/
• BCNtour-taxi Armando Panedas
(34) 60-419-756 armandopanedas@vodafone.es
• www.barcelonatourguides.com/ Patrick
• http://www.taxiinternacional.com/eng...ernacional.htm Angie
•


Naples (Pompeii)

• I used www.limoinrome.com/home.htm Claudio Caponera , Fabrizio

• http://driveamalfi.com/ Salvatore Lucibello, Adriano, Roberto
• www.drivesorrento.com/ Nello Russo
• www.seesorrento.com/chi_sono_eng.html Marcello Maresca, Eugiene, Marco
• www.aptours.it/Site/default.asp?Lang=EN Alberto
• www.francescomarrapese.com/excursions.htm Francesco
• www.pleasantravel.com/index.htm Mariano Fiorentino
• www.jackthedriver.com/ Jack, Lorenzo Bianco
• www.benvenutolimos.com/ Giovanni
• http://www.sorrentocardrivers.com/Si...lt.asp?Lang=EN Raffael
• www.cuomonet.it/ Renato
• http://aldotaxi.net/ Aldo
• www.driverinrome.com …but avoid Guiliana
• http://tourofitaly.com/
• www.hiddenitalytours.com/ Mariano Fiorentino

ROME Train station is close to the port

The main train station in Rome is Termini. From there, take the underground (Metropolitana):

Colosseum: take Line (Linea) B to the Colosseo station. The Colosseum is across the street.

Vatican: take Line A to the Ottaviano station. It's a 15-20 minute walk.

I would recommend anyone wanting to go to the vatician to book a private tour with an official tour guide who can get you in before the opening time of 10am.

The queus are long but you jump this I was in at 8.40am.



Civitavecchia (Rome)

• www.limoinrome.com/home.htm Claudio Caponera , Fabrizio

• http://www.drivinguide.com/shore_excursions.htm
• www.driverinrome.com/ Daniele Melaragno, Remo (his father), Pepe, Manny
• http://romeinlimo.com/ Duman & Carlo
• www.romelimousineservice.com/ Max Leotta
• www.romecabs.com/ Stefano Costantini
• www.romeconnection.com/ Marco
• Don’t miss the Scavi Tour (Vatican necropolis):http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/in...040112_en.html
•
La Spezia (Florence / Pisa) –Book the tower of Pisa online in advance Pre-book to Leaning Tower of Pisa (available 45 – 16 days in advance): www.opapisa.it/boxoffice/index.jsp


• I used www.papillonservice.com/ Lisa, Roberto

• www.florencetour.com/ Paola Migliorni
• www.abcwine.it/off%20shore.htm Carla Giomi
• www.tuscanyinmypocket.com/ Guido
• Marcello Grandini Marcello.tourguide@tiscali.it
• www.tuscanybytaxi.it/ Ricardo
• www.sunflower-tours.com/services.htm Giovanni Sirabella
• www.limoinrome.com/home.htm Claudio
• Giovanni Bassi - architect & urban historian G.bossi@dada.it
• Alessandro Cammilli alecamma@hotmail.com
• Pauline Priore paulinep@tin.it
• Pre-book tickets to Ufizi and Academia Galleria:www.florenceart.it/
Dial 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) 055-294-883 during the hours of 8:30 AM -6:30 PM M-F & 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time.
•
Villefranche (Monte Carlo / Cannes / Nice)
• I used www.dream-tours.com/layout.php?page=106&lang=us Alain, Frederic, Jean Marc
• Or try this if doesn’t work http://www.dream-tours.com/
• www.revelation-tours.com/cruise.html Michel LeGrand, Isoline
• www.azur-guides-interpretes.com/ Sylvie DiCristo
• www.riviera-prestige-tours.com/ Eva Devemy

[Anal Annie]

:yay:YAY! We have a thread! Now we need a name! :rolleyes1 We will have to troll for some that are available... OH! Then we will need a little logo thingy that we insert into our siggies. Oh My!! :rotfl: Such planning to be done and only 1 year 9 months 5 days to do it in!! I will have to figure out how to do that logo thing!! Hummm...betcha Andrew knows!! :rotfl: I have some ideas actually from some old door signs that I made for our cruises last summer. I'm sure they could be downsized enough to work. I made frig. magnets & luggage tags too so I'm sure they can be purtied up & reworked a bit with our meet name. I just don't know how to get them into a siggie. :confused3 Name first. Logo second. Once we vote on a name I can toodle with some logo ideas & post them for another vote!:thumbsup2

Instead of Pirates of the Caribbean we could be Pirates of the Mediterranean. pirate: I wonder if that has been used? What else? Mickey's Mediterranen Mates?! (MMM) :confused3 Mickey's Mediterranean Mouseketeers? :rolleyes: Mouseketeers in the Med?! Oh! Humm... I sorta like that one maybe?! That sorta has a ring to it. I will have to scroll thru some other threads to be sure we don't duplicate anything. Whatcha got on your end?! The days are ticking off now!! :rotfl2:

(I know, I sound like I just swallowed some hellium & ate a box of chocolate don't I? :rotfl: It's just getting late. I'm tired. :rotfl2: Promise! :rolleyes1)

[Anal Annie]

Thought of another name to add to our list - "Mickey's Magical Mouseketeers take the Med" (or do the Med or sail the Med)?! :rotfl: Come on guys! Need some more peeps to sign up here!! We need a name!! Lookin' for more ideas!! :thumbsup2

[msabol01]

A few to add:

Mickey's Maritime Medertirranean Marauders on the Magic

Magical Maniacs sail the Medirterranean

we definately need more help

[Anal Annie]

A few to add:

Mickey's Maritime Medertirranean Marauders on the Magic

Magical Maniacs sail the Medirterranean

we definately need more help

Good ones! :lmao:

Mickey's Magical Med Maniacs :rotfl: Mickey's Magic Med Marauders

Yes! We need more help! This could go on for awhile 'eh mate?!

Mickey's Magical Mates

Marauding Magical Meditteranean Mates

OH or how about Mickey's Marauding Maniacs or Mickey's Marauding Mouseketeers? Marauding is a good word. I like that. You did good coming up with that one.


OK, so far we have the following ideas (will try to keep them updated here as we add them):

Mickey's Roman Empire Tour
Pirates of the Mediterranean
Mickey's Mediterranen Mates
Mickey's Mediterranean Mouseketeers
Mouseketeers in the Med
Mickey's Magical Mouseketeers take the Med
Mickey's Maritime Mediterranean Marauders on the Magic
Magical Maniacs sail the Medirterranean
Mickey's Magical Med Maniacs
Mickey's Magic Med Marauders
Mickey's Magical Mates
Marauding Magical Meditteranean Mates
Mickey's Marauding Maniacs
Mickey's Marauding Mouseketeers

I am thinking that the shorter titles will allow for an easier time when it comes to making things (like logos or FE's & FE gifts or door signs). Personally, I don't think I'm feeling the top 2 so much... I DO like the word Marauding tho since it means plundering... (And on a personal note, Meditteranean gets a bit hard to spell over & over!:rotfl:)

[msabol01]

Once our thread get's posted on the 2011 Magic Meets, I think it will be just the two of us brainstorming :rotfl2: Hopefully, it will be posted soon and then the others will flock to this page. As we get closer we can even do a poll. :thumbsup2

[Anal Annie]

Once our thread get's posted on the 2011 Magic Meets, I think it will be just the two of us brainstorming :rotfl2: Hopefully, it will be posted soon and then the others will flock to this page. As we get closer we can even do a poll. :thumbsup2

So how does that happen? Do you PM the Cowboy with the link?:surfweb:

Hopefully we won't be alone on the boat for TOO long!:rotfl: I keep chatting with Andrew on his thread...he has so much previous cruisng experience... I want to do soooo many things on this trip it's going to take a lot of planning (read: budgeting)!:goodvibes

[msabol01]

So how does that happen? Do you PM the Cowboy with the link?:surfweb:

Hopefully we won't be alone on the boat for TOO long!:rotfl: I keep chatting with Andrew on his thread...he has so much previous cruisng experience... I want to do soooo many things on this trip it's going to take a lot of planning (read: budgeting)!:goodvibes

Being alone on the boat wouldn't be bad, you could take the Roy suite and I the Walt lol

I left the link on the main thread for meets. Once Irish cowboy returns (last post was on 10/31) he will update the listing.

I too am reading through Andrew's info. Is it bad I'm already planning considering I have a huge family trip (17 people) to wdw coming up on August?

[Keever]

Hey Annie amd msabol,

I cannot pick my favourite (Canadian spelling here...) name for our group and thread. You have so many great ideas!

Annie, we will be across the hall from you in SPH Cabin 5520. Our sons will be close in age; my sons will be 13 and 15. This will be great!

I am keen to do the FE, fish extender. I'll start crafting!

Life is crazy busy so I have not had time to do the research beyond pricing out flights. I'm happy to keep reading the tips....:goodvibes

[Anal Annie]

YAY! Keever's back with us! I guess those of us who bargain hunted the SPH cabins are the only early birds hunting for cruise meets?!:goodvibes Well, we don't know what Mike booked...:confused3 By the way, we did back-to-backs in 5520 on the Wonder last summer!:thumbsup2 The SPH cabins are SUCH AWESOME deals. Have you been in one of them before?

In case you HAVEN'T been in one of the SPH cabins before, this was our view of Castaway Cay on a couple of days (two days they pulled in & one day they backed in so the view varied):

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8d636b3127ccec4b714c61d5400000040O08Qbs27Ju5cA9 vPgQ/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9cf31b3127ccef8c1a0fe7a1600000040O08Qbs27Ju5cA9 vPgQ/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9cf31b3127ccef8c1418bbbbb00000040O08Qbs27Ju5cA9 vPgQ/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

And our view while docked at Port Canaveral:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8d636b3127ccec4b779ee5dd200000040O08Qbs27Ju5cA9 vPgQ/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

And just the cabin in general before it gets lived in too much:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8d636b3127ccec4b762e49c7d00000040O08Qbs27Ju5cA9 vPgQ/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/


Not too shabby for the price of an inside cabin 'eh?! The obstructed view really isn't that bad. Better than NO view anyway.:rolleyes:

[msabol01]

Welcome Keever!!!!:thumbsup2

I didn't even think about a SPH cabin when I booked. We're up near the front on deck seven in a 9A aka old Cat 8 porthole cabin.

We booked verandahs our last two cruises and although we maybe spend 30 minutes total out on the balcony, we wonder if we will miss it once it is gone? That said, I couldn't justify the extra $$$$$ for a balcony when there are so many port calls and things to see on land.

[Anal Annie]

Welcome Keever!!!!:thumbsup2

I didn't even think about a SPH cabin when I booked. We're up near the front on deck seven in a 9A aka old Cat 8 porthole cabin.

We booked verandahs our last two cruises and although we maybe spend 30 minutes total out on the balcony, we wonder if we will miss it once it is gone? That said, I couldn't justify the extra $$$$$ for a balcony when there are so many port calls and things to see on land.

You'll be FINE with the porthole and I agree on the $$$. For comparison I had priced the Cat 10 on the 11 n. cruise against Cats 10, 9 & 6 on the 10 nighter. BEEEG difference! With 7 ports in 7 days you'll barely have a spare moment for the balcony! Two of the ports don't even have an onboard time until 9:00 pm!! On the two sea days you'll be up & out to enjoy the ship. We had booked a Cat 8 GTY on our first cruise & ended up getting upgraded to one of the Aft Cat 6's which was awesome. At the time DH & I were both still smokers so we used the balcony in the mornings & evenings for (ahem) "fresh air".:lmao: That was an extra bonus for us. We have since quit smoking & last summer we had the SPH room and while a balcony would've been nice we honestly did not miss it.:thumbsup2 I just look at it like it's a hotel room without a balcony. If money was no object we'd book a balcony in a heartbeat...BUT when I think about the WHOLE cost of this trip inclusive with air, shore excursions, bar tab:rolleyes1, DLP pre-cruise, flights, some new clothes....:scared1: The decision is pretty easy. :thumbsup2 I REALLY want to hire a private guide in Rome and that's going to be a huge splurge!!


OK....looking for more peeps!! pirate: We need a name!!

[Anal Annie]

:yay: Yay! Irish cowboy set us up on the meets!! :thumbsup2 NOW we should be collecting more peeps! :rotfl:

[msabol01]

So that's the trick, stop checking every two hours! Yeah!!!

[Keever]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! We got a message this sailing has been cancelled.

I rebooked for July 20th this am.

Will you, my thread friends be switching too?

[msabol01]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! We got a message this sailing has been cancelled.

I rebooked for July 20th this am.

Will you, my thread friends be switching too?

Sadly, I'm learning this through you. Who told you? Guess I better email my TA. Were you given a decent rate for your rebooking? I wonder if low sales cancelled the trip.

[Keever]

I received a call Thursday from the Disney Vacation Club. Disney was most accomodating with the rebooking - even securing my secret porthole cabin.

[msabol01]

Oh so you booked using points. I booked thru DU and my TA just emailed that they got the news last night but ate awaiting details from DCL and if any special compensation would be provided. She also offered to rebook now if I didn't want to wait. It looks like cruises from 7/30 thru 9/10 are all being cancelled. Guess the demand was low.

I will most likely try to rebook for the same as you. Stayed tuned

[Keever]

They still had a secret porthole room available as of mid-day this morning.
I had to kick in a few more points because the sailings in July are a higher travel season. It wasn't a straight exchange, but maybe they'll do that for you. I'm hoping for you, Mike.

[Anal Annie]

Hey ya'll. :guilty: My DU TA left a msg. on my wall last nite on Facebook (we sailed together last summer so we've remained in touch...) She told me she was just giving a heads up about DCL pulling (cancelling) all the 2011 Med cruises after the July 20 one thru Sept. She does not know what they plan to do with the Magic tho yet. Apparently between the Wonder AK cruises & the Dream bookings the sales for the Med are not as hoped. But she wanted us to start thinking what else we wanted to do. I went online quickly & saw that there were still some SPH cabins left on the July 20 sailing so I asked her to grab one & put a hold on it for us until Monday which she did last night. :thumbsup2 Got our same 5020 cabin.:thumbsup2 I think once we xfer our existing ressie (which has a rebooking discount) that the total cost work out for us to be approx. $330 or so more.

August was a better month for us to go...but we REALLY had started looking forward to this trip and don't want to NOT GO. We considered the Dream briefly as we have DIS peeps from our cruises last summer who are sailing on the July 10 one but DH wants to see more of the world (beyond the Bahamas). SOOOO. DS will just have to miss the end of his swim team season (ie the last couple of meets, team photo & awards banquet) etc. We'd been kicking around going to Disneyland Paris FIRST but now we'll probably do that AFTER so we don't have to leave any earlier in July than needed in order to just spend a couple of nights in Barcelona first. That way he can still swim that weekend before the cruise.

Glad to see you have decided on the July 20 too Keever. I say if we all go on the July 20 as our alternate we just ask the Irish Cowboy to move the thread. I don't think there was one started yet for it either.:thumbsup2 Why start over now?? Let's pick our name & move on!:thumbsup2

Meanwhile I have a big mess to finish cleaning up. DS had swim practice this evening & he dropped his jammer into the sink to soak & left the water running while he was in the shower!!:scared1::scared1::scared1: So he gets out of the shower & screams MOOOOMMM!!! The ENTIRE bathroom was flooded! Under the sinks (including my new 30 roll pack of TP that I just got at Costco last week).:sad2: Everything had to come out of the room. It's all still sitting in the hallway. He has a meet this weekend and we used like ALL of our beach towels mopping up the floor. They're still in the tub, waiting for me to fetch them & throw them in the wash. I had to stop for an adult beverage and to answer here. NOW I have to go put this room back together.:headache: Might need another drink for the road.:rolleyes:

[Anal Annie]

Oh you booked using points!! :worship: WOW. :rotfl2: We are "points challenged"! We used points for our 4 nighter last summer & paid cash for our 3 nighter. That wiped us out of about 1 and 3/4 yrs worth of points! We won't be cruising on points again!:goodvibes Let's go! Let's do it! July 20 Med here we come!! Call 'em now Mike!!!! Go on!! :thumbsup2 Do it before EVERYBODY does & snags all the rooms & the prices go up!

[msabol01]

Thanks. That's my debate do I switch now and guarantee a reservation or risk it in hopes Disney offers some kind of compensation. By terms of the contract they don't need to do anything so I'm wondering if this has happened in the past. I'm also thinking if they would offer something they would have done so with you like not needing to kick in the extra points.

[Anal Annie]

:drinking1:drinking1 Make mine a double tonight!! Good grief did we have a mess with DS's bathroom flood. It was worse than I orig. thought it was. I just now sat down again. We started getting a wet spot along the tape seam on the ceiling in the kitchen which is under his bathroom.:eek: Went back upstairs & pulled off the cove base under the cabinets. There was a space between the cabinet & the wall on one end big enough for me to get my pinky finger into. So it APPEARS that some of the water went under the base & into this crack!:headache: So now we're watching this wet seam grow across our kitchen ceiling!! We had a dehumidifier hooked up to a drain in the basement so DH unhooked that & brought it up while I tried to stuff paper towels into this little crack to absorb whatever I could. Then we put a fan in the room. :sad2: There is a big linen closet in there too & I had a BUNCH of old crap stored in there that I had to go thru & pitch 'cuz it got wet. I still have everything sitting in the hallway while we leave the dehumidifier run. But DOH!!!:upsidedow


It is my gut feeling that with the cruises being SO far away still they will not likely offer any extra compensation. It wouldn't be like people had booked flights yet or anything. I think many that were booked on these 4 or 5 cancelled cruises if they really want to go, will gravitate to the 2 that are offered in July (1 - 10 nighter & 1 - 11 nighter). Since Keever and I both wanted SPH rooms we knew we'd have to book ASAP to snag one.

BTW I JUST now looked at the DCL website...they are still showing 4 SPH rooms as available - Keever it does not appear that you got 5520 again like you had before as 5024 + all 3 of the 55__ rooms are still there. We are supposed to have 5020 so it looks like you are currently right next door to us in 5022. (Just wanted to make sure you knew which one you were in.) That one will have the steamer trunk that 5520 does not have but it adjoins to 5024. 5020 & 5520 have the least obstructions... Call DVC again if that's not what you thought / wanted!!!

Just realized it's after 11:00. Guess it's bedtime! Nite ya'll.

[msabol01]

:drinking1:drinking1 Make mine a double tonight!! Good grief did we have a mess with DS's bathroom flood. It was worse than I orig. thought it was. I just now sat down again. We started getting a wet spot along the tape seam on the ceiling in the kitchen which is under his bathroom.:eek: Went back upstairs & pulled off the cove base under the cabinets. There was a space between the cabinet & the wall on one end big enough for me to get my pinky finger into. So it APPEARS that some of the water went under the base & into this crack!:headache: So now we're watching this wet seam grow across our kitchen ceiling!! We had a dehumidifier hooked up to a drain in the basement so DH unhooked that & brought it up while I tried to stuff paper towels into this little crack to absorb whatever I could. Then we put a fan in the room. :sad2: There is a big linen closet in there too & I had a BUNCH of old crap stored in there that I had to go thru & pitch 'cuz it got wet. I still have everything sitting in the hallway while we leave the dehumidifier run. But DOH!!!:upsidedow


It is my gut feeling that with the cruises being SO far away still they will not likely offer any extra compensation. It wouldn't be like people had booked flights yet or anything. I think many that were booked on these 4 or 5 cancelled cruises if they really want to go, will gravitate to the 2 that are offered in July (1 - 10 nighter & 1 - 11 nighter). Since Keever and I both wanted SPH rooms we knew we'd have to book ASAP to snag one.

BTW I JUST now looked at the DCL website...they are still showing 4 SPH rooms as available - Keever it does not appear that you got 5520 again like you had before as 5024 + all 3 of the 55__ rooms are still there. We are supposed to have 5020 so it looks like you are currently right next door to us in 5022. (Just wanted to make sure you knew which one you were in.) That one will have the steamer trunk that 5520 does not have but it adjoins to 5024. 5020 & 5520 have the least obstructions... Call DVC again if that's not what you thought / wanted!!!

Just realized it's after 11:00. Guess it's bedtime! Nite ya'll.

Maybe I will go for the SPH rooms to offset the increase in price. Stay tuned.

[Keever]

Too bad about the flood Annie. What a mess!

I left the post it note with all my details on my desk at work, but I do know we are not in the same SPH room. The Disney supervisor checked the views and selected what she thought was the nicest. I'll verify the cabin on Monday.

Great idea about boking a SPH room to offset the cost. We'll be quite a club in that area!

[Keever]

Annie,
Where do you check out the room availability? Some site?

[msabol01]

So unless something really cool and European is announced for Aug 10, I am now sailing on the Jul 20th! We also got the SPH rooms. Thanks for the advice Annie. :worship:

[Anal Annie]

We are officially transferred & booked on the July 20 now as well. :thumbsup2 Bottom line ended up costing us $396 more. I thought it would be a little less than that but I don't have an exact breakdown pp from DU. I am also still waiting to see what our alternative choice might be for August...but at least we all have our SPH rooms! WHAT a secret porthole party we have here!! OK, so I know Keever has 2 boys around my DS's age...How about you msabol01 - you bringing kids??

Keever - to check the cabin availability I just go onto the DCL website & select our cruise type / date / cabin category. Then once that comes up I click the radio button to select a cabin number under the customize cruise options. The available ones will show up on the deck plans / map. :thumbsup2

[msabol01]

Bringing the kids? Heck we're bringing the entire clan!!!! :rotfl2:

My kids are a bit younger, my daughter will be 10 at the time of the cruise and my son 5 (he would have had his 6th B-day on the Magic if we kept our original sail date).

I will also have my in-laws, and my sister-in-law and her family, her kids will be 6 and 3.

In respect of Murphy's Law, I will hold off starting a July 20th thread until Disney releases the Aug 10 plans.

[Anal Annie]

Bringing the kids? Heck we're bringing the entire clan!!!! :rotfl2:

My kids are a bit younger, my daughter will be 10 at the time of the cruise and my son 5 (he would have had his 6th B-day on the Magic if we kept our original sail date).

I will also have my in-laws, and my sister-in-law and her family, her kids will be 6 and 3.

In respect of Murphy's Law, I will hold off starting a July 20th thread until Disney releases the Aug 10 plans.

Good luck coordinating all that!:goodvibes I tried to plan a trip to WDW last summer with my parents & brother for my parents 50th anniv. & I couldn't get anybody to commit to jack squat! SOOO we went w/o them!:rotfl:

I'll bet you could get the Irish Cowboy dude to just move our thread to the new date & edit our date on the thread title - might work better than having someone else start another new thread before you get around to it!!!! KWIM? We need a name...:rotfl2:thinking with all we've been thru already that Mickey's Marauding Maniacs may suit us!!:lmao: Or should it be Meandering Maniacs?!:rotfl2:

[msabol01]

How about Micky's Mediterranean Orphans...coming to a sail date & Port near you!

You don't have to tell me about the troubles of coordinating family vacations. I'd rather herd cats!

We had planned a week at WDW for this coming August for all of my in-laws. 17 People in all, my parent-in-laws plus my wife's two brothers and sister and their respective families. So everyone agrees to a date and commit, so I bank and borrow points, call MS first thing the morning of the 11 month mark, and secure all the necessary Savanah View rooms.

Now over the last two weeks, I've had two families back out! :eek::scared:

So I'm now stuck trying to figure out what to do with all these borrowed points and going to WDW at a time that was the preference of the group, but not us (August). :mad::mad:

I may just cancel the whole trip and use the points to cover the kids' portion of the cruise.

Done Venting lol! :rolleyes1

[Anal Annie]

Hey ya'll - just bumping us back off of page 3!!

Mike - I feel for ya on the family trip thing. OMG. If I were you I'd probably be booking another trip to the world for US if I had borrowed points to use up!:rolleyes: In our case I'd given all of my family a deadline to commit of about 2 days before the 7 month deadline. I told them no changes after I booked it! NOBODY would commit so we booked 10 nights for ourselves.:rolleyes1 We were only providing accomodations - they would've been on their own to GET to FL and for their meals & park tix etc. I'd provided a list of estimated expenses for park tix & CS meals pp so they could make an informed decision. Whatever. I undertand it was more $ than they wanted to spend but I am in no hurry to try to plan it again. :sad2: (Just curious since you orig. booked the Med for Aug. why you didn't want to go in August?:confused3 Or am I reading that wrong?)

[msabol01]

That was pretty much the same as what I did. Unfortunately they got short sighted on the ticket cost for the parks. Oh well, more for us I say!

So when are we going to learn the fate of the Magic in August??? :rolleyes1

[IrishCowboy]

Subscribing

[Anal Annie]

:wave2: Howdy Cowboy! Whatcha doin'? Just watching us wandering cruisers to see where we go?!:rotfl:

Even tho I swapped dates I am not changing my ticker to the July 20 cruise until we hear more from DCL about what's going on...JUST IN CASE!!

[Anal Annie]

Just a bump back off of PAGE 5!!:scared1: How ya'll doing? I sure hope we find out more scoop SOON from DCL about what's going on with the August cruises!! Stay tuned!!:goodvibes

[msabol01]

Yeah, Like you and Andrew waiting to see what's the deal with this cruise!!!! I will be pretty miffed if they do not cancel our original sail date as we were told. :mad::mad::mad:

[Anal Annie]

:wave2: Hi guys! I sure wish DCL would give us some more scoop soon - I still haven't changed my ticker from Aug to July 'cuz it's a custom one & that's a pain. My cruise fund jar is nearly empty still.:rotfl: My parents were here over Thanksgiving & my Mom emptied all of her change into it! :rotfl2: It IS annoying that this July cruise costs more 'eh? I was looking at some of the excursions they posted for the 2010 cruises.:lmao: They got one that is $2,300 pp to go cook!!:rotfl2: Once we get our meet thread going for good I really hope we can find another family to go in with on a van / private tour or with a small group of 12 or so in a couple of the ports. The more I think about it the more I think that's the way to go in Naples & Rome. I'd MUCH rather split $600 Euros or whatever with someone else than pay DCL $180 or $200 pp!! Ahh, well. Back to the dreaming...:rolleyes:

[Anal Annie]

So nothing announced yet officially, but Andrew has posted some screen shots from his July 30 ressie (he did not switch his date so he still has some sort of access to the July 30 date). It's looking like they may be switching those remaining August Med cruises to only be 7 nighters.... They appear to be dropping the new ports of Malta, Tunis & Corsica.... I am still waiting to see something "official" from DCL about it. I sent a msg. to my TA but she has not heard anything yet. What will ya'll do if that's what they do?? Will you consider switching back to August with fewer nights / ports? I was really looking forward to being on the ship for 10 nights...we will likely stick with the July 20 date but would still like to be able to make an informed decision about it.

[Anal Annie]

Hey guys! Supposedly tomorrow's the day for the official announcement from DCL that they're changing the July 30 + cruises to 7 nighters.... Who's staying with me on the July 20 one? Shall we ask Irish Cowboy to move our thread to the July 20 date or do we have to start all over again or who's bailing?! I suppose I should consult with DH one more time about this huh? :confused3 :rotfl2:

We need to keep that list of meet name ideas!:idea: I just looked back at it and realized HOW MANY TIMES I SPELLED Mediterranean wrong!!:rotfl: I don't think I want that in our title!

[msabol01]

We are staying on the 20th as well. We prefer the 10 day itinerary, I will get a message to Irish Cowboy.

[Anal Annie]

We are staying on the 20th as well. We prefer the 10 day itinerary, I will get a message to Irish Cowboy.

i just looked at the new itineraries & priced out some stuff.....gonna run it by DH. The 7 n added Palma, Mallorca.... For us, with our re-booking disc. the Aug. 13, 7 nighter would be $2,143 LESS than the Jul 10 nighter.... that's kind of a lot... Just want to be sure he & I are on the same page!!:goodvibes

[msabol01]

OH man, Decisions Decisions. I will talk it over with my wife. We're inclined to stay on the 10 night. But the savings is tempting. Isn't Sue Ellen on a cruise right now?

[IrishCowboy]

I have moved link from Aug 10 to July 20 on cruise meet list. :thumbsup2

[Anal Annie]

Thanks Cowboy!

NOW if only I could make up my mind for sure about what to do....... :rotfl: I have not heard back yet from Sue Ellen... Yes, she is on a cruise this week. I want to confirm if we switch back to a 7 n that we'd be able to keep the 1/2 deposit.... I am definitely seeing $$$ in my eyes right now tho. Esp. when I think about how much LESS of a balance it would leave. You know, the cruise may be 17 mo. away but the date the balance due is only a little over a year away...March right? :rotfl2: I tried to get some feedback from some Facebook friends... Not too much response...I've had 2 friends say they'd definitely save the money & 1 said GO FOR IT since it's likely a once in a lifetime trip... Still haven't had time to talk to DH...

[Keever]

I say July, July, July! Don't switch Annie - we are all friends now. The July cruise will be more fun!

[Anal Annie]

Can't we still be friends if we DO switch out??:goodvibes :)

We're still undecided. :rolleyes1 DH & I talked about it briefly last night in the car. DS says he doesn't care if he misses the end of his swim season if we stick to July...but if we switch to the 7 n we would literally save $2,000. We would use that savings for pre & post cruise nights in Barcelona & Paris. We would still make a 2 week trip out of it but we'd be better off financially. It would be hard to afford to go for longer than 14 or 15 nights with either date. With travel time, that's a long trip. There are definitely pros & cons to both.... Sigh... I don't know guys... I wish I had more time to research the ports!!

[msabol01]

We're 85% sure we are staying on the 10 day. Like Annie the temptation to switch and save money is tempting, but it may be a wash since we are a family of four and the extra land days and travel would be a wash.

We've done most of Europe and the cruise covers a lot of the places we haven't visited before.

Let us know what you decide.

[Anal Annie]

Whoa!! We were all the way back on page 4 guys!! This ain't how this works!! We gotta keep the thread up on page 1 or 2!!! :rotfl: Even if we are talking to ourselves!! :rotfl:

DH and I are still in talks about which cruise to do. :sad2: This is a reeaallllly hard decision. LOL...being the anal retentive person that I am, I had printed out a whole bunch of stuff about the 3 ports on the 10 night cruise that we'd be giving up and some stuff on the Mallorca port that we'd gain if we flipped to the 7 night cruise. I do all the driving and so while we were traveling to / from my parents house in WV this weekend I made DH read thru all this stuff (+ I had bought a book on European cruises and had each port tagged). :rotfl2: Conclusion - he is no help!! :rotfl: There are pros & cons to both. I know I keep repeating myself...but with the 7 night cruise we'd save over $2,000 so it makes adding time in Paris & Barcelona so much easier... But then Malta looks so drop dead GORGEOUS...:rolleyes1 I think Corsica would likely end up just being a beach day for us. The DCL excursions for 2010 are very pricey there and don't hold the same interest for us. So Corsica is a couldn't care less port for us. I think Tunisia & Malta would be interesting to visit tho. There is no excursion info. yet for Mallorca since it's so far away. But we are sort of looking at what we'd likely do in each port.

Anyway, I was just popping in to say hi :wave2: and hope ya'll had a great Christmas holiday. I'm still around (for now) until we can decide for sure what to do so come chat!!! Don't leave me out here to talk to myself!! Tell me what you've been up to!!! :goodvibes

[msabol01]

So we are staying with the 10 day. Although the savings is tempting, I want the time at sea and on the ship to relax and recover. Andrew's comments about the faster pace of med cruises resonated with me. Also just checking in to keep this alive.

[Keever]

Great news, Mike! Hopefully Annie's new year's resolution will be to stay on the July cruise. What a fun group we'll be!

We were actually happier to get a date in July. I also prefer a longer cruise because I really want the experience of settling in to shipboard life. Here I sound so haughty - like I have so much cruising experience. In fact, we have cruised once on the 4 night Carribean cruise last summer. We loved it but I did feel the first day was frenetic; we felt mild anxiety about making choices to attend an ideal activity without missing something else that was happening onboard at the same time. Ten nights will alleviate this, I expect.

The cost wasn't such a factor for us as we have applied banked and borrowed points. Working with points doesn't have the same feeling as cash withdrawals or Visa charges...We did pay for one child fare, a small difference between July and August cruises.

Our eldest will be 15 at sailing. I expect he'll work the following summer, so we look at this as the last opportunity for such a grand family holiday. As we have banked and borrowed points, we will look at closer to home holidays this summer and in 2012. ("Stay-cations" is the term, I believe).

So, let's hope for Annie's commitment and then we can pick a name and welcome new folks to this thread. And organize a Fish extender if you are interested.

Annie, of course, we can still be friends if you switch dates.

[msabol01]

Happy New Year to you too! We are definately staying on this cruise.

Annie- if you decide to leave us, let me know...so I can let our TA know to switch my one obstructed view SPH room to one of yours!:thumbsup2

[Anal Annie]

Hey peeps! Happy New Year!! :grouphug: We were back on page 4 again so I thought we could use a bump up in the ranks!!! :sad2:

We are still here for now anyway...I keep checking the DCL website & watching the SPH cabins on a couple of the 7 nighters...a couple have disappeared... Mike - of course I will let ya'll know what we decide to do. I suspect that whenever we get around to figuring out our taxes I'll have a better idea what we'll do. I am always scheming and I had HOPED to set aside a good chunk toward the cruise balance so that NEXT year I'd only be worrying about paying for excursions (and finding airfare). We have always had good refunds in the past but this year I've been unemployed all year and DH had to adjust his withholdings etc. so I really don't know how we'll come out. This is probably TMI but our taxable income will be a lot less - but so our withholdings will also be less...but our Schedule A is still big. I have no idea how it will work out. :confused3 I will be anxious to do them ASAP at the beginning of Feb, as soon as we have all of our filing info.:goodvibes Cross your fingers ya'll that we still get a hoooge refund!! I suppose I really should resume looking for a job 'eh?!:rotfl:

Keever - I did a fish extender exchange on our last cruise & it was a lot of fun...but I am concerned about it being larger on this cruise...and the whole luggage / weight thing might be a factor!! I will have to play that by ear!! It was indeed great fun planning for it tho and coming back to the room to see what goodies we'd been given. I just worry about all the luggage fees on this trip!!!!

[jtw999]

Hello everyone! Our family is very excited to be going on this cruise. We have three sons (will be 13, 11, and 8 at time of cruising).
I'm enjoying looking ahead at possible excursions and other things to plan.
I know it's very early, but does any one have ideas for a hotel in Barcelona to stay at before the cruise? It's challenging to find one that will take 5 of us. Any suggestions would be great!

[Anal Annie]

:wave2: Hi JT!! Welcome aboard! Look guys a new peep on our boat!! :yay: 2 Americans & 2 Canadians!! Keever has a couple of boys & I have 1 boy - all near the same ages as yours. Mike? Other than in-laws what (who) are you bringing along?? I'm sorry, I forgot what you said about your kids!!:blush:

JT - look in the very first post on this thread...Mike inserted a bunch of links we got from Andrew Derek UK who has done a Med cruise before & who has offered up a lot of info. There are a few hotels listed for Barcelona. Another option is a short-stay apartment! They look to be just about as reasonable as hotels! They will sleep more but some have minimum stays of 3 or 4 nights. I looked thru several of them at this link as we will likely add 2 or 3 nights in Barcelona as well:

http://www.enjoybcn.com/en/catalogo/listado_4.html

[Anal Annie]

Bump!!:goodvibes

popcorn:: Where is everyone?

[jtw999]

:wave2: Hi JT!! Welcome aboard! Look guys a new peep on our boat!!

Thank you for the welcome!

Also, thank you for the advice on the apartments. It's been very helpful!

:)

[Anal Annie]

Thank you for the welcome!

Also, thank you for the advice on the apartments. It's been very helpful!

:)

I have seen mixed reviews of the property itself but I've read that the Marriott Renaissance which is near the airport has 2 bedroom suites that sleep 5 & they have some free shuttles to the airport & into Barcelona. I think with 5 + luggage you might have a problem fitting into 1 taxi too so the shuttle thing might be handy! But these little apartments do look like an option don't they? I just don't know how good their locations are for sightseeing etc. I think we really want to also go to Paris too...so time-wise it's going to be really tough to spend more than a night or two in Barcelona. I cannot decide if we should do Paris pre-cruise or after now that we have to go in July.:confused3

[msabol01]

Hi JT,

Welcome to the cruise! Hotels in Europe are a tough choice since many are much smaller than what we may be used to in the US and Canada. My original plan was to use my Marriott points to stay at the airport Renaissance. I didn't hear about the two bedroom suites...wonder what those run! The catch is each room's max occupancy is for 3. If my in-laws still come with us on this cruise, I will farm one of the kids over to them.

I did a quick check on the popular travel sites and there seems to be a fair number of well priced hotels that could accommodate four people. I think the apartment option may be a good alternative.

Our numbers may be changing but currently its our immediate family of DW, DD, DS and me. In-laws (MIL, FIL) and SIL, BIL, 1 niece and 1 nephew. In the end it may just be the four of us.

[Anal Annie]

Happy weekend guys!!

Mike! What's up dude? Why might the rest of your peeps bail on you? I am still waffling about the 7 nighters...gosh I hate to switch but $2,000 is a lot of bread dough!! And it truely would make adding time to either end of it easier. I just saw someone this morning who's been to Barcelona...she showed me some pictures. It looks so amazing.:love: I keep checking on "our room" on the 7 nighters to see how they're holding up.:rotfl: I can't wait to get our taxes done so I can make a decision I can sleep with! Darned paperwork will take at least a couple more weeks to come. I suppose there's always the home equity line!:lmao:

Meanwhile I am having withdraw from Disney already! :rotfl2: We're going down for 6 nights the end of March to squeeze in 1 more trip off of our AP's...it will be our 3rd within a year. But so in planning ahead for the Med thing we (I) decided we should try to vacation on a budget this year for a change! (read: drive not fly, no more park tickets save whatever cash we can etc.) So we booked at the DVC at Hilton Head for a week in August in order to go on the cheap side!! I am a bit anxious tho that we will be bored...we have not done strictly a beach vacation since like I don't know...2001 or something like that. We have not been to any of the Carolina beaches at all. Well, I went to Myrtle as a kid with my family but DH has not been at all. And Myrtle is MUCH MORE commercial so it is not the same AT ALL. Wish us luck! I know many people LOVE it down there...and the DVC at HHI is hard to get into so we got lucky. I just already miss our Owners Locker and WDW!! :rotfl: It is sort of funny tho the way I keep saying "it's our cheapest option". Many people spend A LOT of money to go there...we are so blessed to have DVC to fall back on to save all that cash!! It is amazing really, isn't it? We can go on vacation for the cost of about probably 4 tanks or so of gas. Of course THAT is a killer these days too...

Well, must go throw in a load of laundry :laundy: or do something domestic!! Hope everyone is doing well!!

[msabol01]

Some may cancel because of money....airfare, excursions, etc might be more than they are willing to spend. My sister-in-law is on the fence since her kids will be 3 and 6, so it may be much for the youngins.

So I went back and checked the Renaissance for the suite and it was 450 EUR!!!!:scared1::scared1:

I didn't see it before because I was searching under the rewards availability. A standard room is averaging 20,000 points per night. The suite is not an option for Marriott Reward Points, so will just get two rooms.

Like you, we are still on the fence on whether we stay in Europe longer. I'd like to go to Germany, it's been 10 years since I lived there. Lisa would also like to go back to Paris (we honeymooned there). She doesn't have a strong desire for DLP. I've been to the park in 1999, it's a small park compared to Magic Kindom or DL. On the plus side, it wasn't very crowded back then. Their Space Mountain was much better than any of the others (I think it may even go upside down).

You'll have a blast!

[Anal Annie]

Holy Bat Cave!! :faint: 450 Euros!!:eek: I shudder!! In comparison to how DVC works is the 20,000 points in Marriott speak a lot for them??

SIL might be right about the 3 & 6 yo. That would be a long flight...she might do better leaving them on the ship? And the 3 yo might not be potty trained by then?! Eewwww. I would have to REEEALLY want to go to bring a 3 yo I think. Hummm. :idea: I know! See if any of them want to switch to a 7 nighter!! Tell 'em you could hook 'em up with this crazzzzy laaady to go with!!:rotfl: I definitely feel their pain. WE will be in so much trouble too if I can't find good airfare...I have been saving miles on a credit card for almost 10 years to cover a trip like this!! But we will need some pixiedust: to do it or else I will be :sad:

I have heard that Space Mtn. at DLP is really cool. I've looked at it online and I think it is a must do for us. We are on a mission to stay at all of the DVC resorts so why not to visit as many Disney parks too?! PLUS now that we've booked Hilton Head for this summer I think DS is concerned about when we will visit again. Visiting DLP would help make this whole vaca more acceptable to him too as far as the way HE thinks. I honestly cannot tell him when we will be going back to FL right now. It will likely be a quickie long weekend short notice (3-4 mo.) type thing. We usually go to Hawaii every 5 years...so we'd be "due" again in 2011...but we figured we may as well wait on Ko'Olina to be ready so we decided to flip things & do the cruise in 2011 & Ko'Olina in 2012 (since they haven't said WHEN it should be done). So 2 yrs. in a row with "BIG" vacations... Someone needs to just shoot me & put me out of my obsessive planning misery!!!:upsidedow

OK, so where's Keever these days!!?? Hey there!! Whatcha up to??

[msabol01]

The points are just the regular Marriott rewards point that you earn just like frequent flyer miles. I think it is 10 points for every dollar. 20k is actaully a good deal since most hotels run in the 30-40k range and hotels in manhattan run upwards of 60k points. I've been able to save points with work since I'm staying at a Marriott three nights a week.

I think their vacation club operates more like a traditional timeshare where you buy a week and not points.

We are scheduled to go to WDW is mid August but my wife would rather go back to HHI. It's low key and relaxed and the beach is nice. They have a beach cookout twice a week at the beach house... It's an all you can eat buffet and the price was reasonable. The also do a camp fire with singing ans Smores twice a week too. We also did a day trip to Savannah which is 35 mins away.

Stay tuned out plans for summer are not solidified yet.

[Anal Annie]

We are scheduled to go to WDW is mid August but my wife would rather go back to HHI. It's low key and relaxed and the beach is nice. They have a beach cookout twice a week at the beach house... It's an all you can eat buffet and the price was reasonable. The also do a camp fire with singing ans Smores twice a week too. We also did a day trip to Savannah which is 35 mins away.

Stay tuned out plans for summer are not solidified yet.


We are booked at HHI for Sat 8/14 - Sat 8/21 so maybe we'll get to have a 'lil DIS meet before the cruise if you go!!:rolleyes:

[Anal Annie]

Hey ya'll...someone else started a thread about hotels & apartments in Barcelona so I am just dropping the link in here in case anybody else wants to grab their popcorn:: and follow along!!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2372463&page=2

[Anal Annie]

:scared1:Page 4 peeps!! Wha's up with that?

Well, every day that passes seems to bring more crappy news to us. DH's car broke down last Friday & he had to get towed in. The initial diagnosis was the timing belt:scared1::scared1: We got the final call today that it also busted the valves in the engine when it broke!!:sad2: The estimate is a week to fix for a nice chunk totaling about $5,000!!!!!!:eek: This really sucks 'cuz it's basically putting in a new engine I think. The belt was DUE for replacement & we knew that - but DH was only 127 miles over the recommended mileage!! :headache: Something else we were hoping to do from our taxes. But so this news is pushing us further to changing over to the 7 nighter. $5,000 is just devasting for a car repair at this time. Looks like I will be out picking up a job at the first place that has a help wanted sign in the window.

I have not emailed our TA yet but it's looking more & more likely that's what we will have to do.:sad: I will keep ya'll posted of any changes we make when it happens.

[Anal Annie]

:sad: Well folks....it is official. We have bailed on the July 20 cruise and have booked our SPH cabin on the Aug. 13th 7 night. :guilty: DH's car is still in the shop and they called this morning to tell us that they discovered the ROOT and cause of the whole problem was actually his oil pump!! So they had already replaced the head & valves & cylinders & it still wouldn't start so they had to tear it apart AGAIN.:headache: MORE LABOR to tear the engine apart AGAIN...then they found the oil pump had stopped pumping which broke a timing CHAIN, not the timing belt after all & the CHAIN is what destroyed everything when it flew apart inside. Well, so this discovery added ANOTHER $2,000 to the bill for a grand total of OVER $7,000!!! :scared1: So that was it - that was the last straw for me. I hadn't slept in a week AS IT WAS so I knew it was a sign we had to change something. We've been working on our taxes and are getting a decent refund and would've stayed with the 10 night if it wasn't for this car repair bill. But let's face it - that is more than what we were paying for the 10 night!! (Heavy sigh) I hope this is his last Audi!!!

I may still pop in to say hi from time to time!:hug: There still is no meet thread started for the Aug. 13 one so I am all alone.:sad1: I might have to go start myself a meet thread soon.:rolleyes1 There is only 1 more SPH room left on that cruise now so I am not entirely alone! I just gotta find the others!! I certainly wish all of you the best!! Thanks for letting me ramble!!

[Anal Annie]

OK, so I went ahead & chose a name & started a meet thread for this Aug. 13 cruise that we switched to... I know it will be lonely for awhile but so come visit sometimes!! :hug:

I chose "Mickey's Marauding Mates" because I truely have been a wanderer!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2387326

[Keever]

Awwwwwwww! So sorry to hear of your car troubles, and even sadder to hear that you've jumped ship (so to speak) to the August cruise. What a difficult decision, but you have certainly thought it out. We are sticking with the July cruise but haven't had a second to think about it during hockey season.

Keep checking in Annie - you can still be part of our disboard.

[Anal Annie]

Awwwwwwww! So sorry to hear of your car troubles, and even sadder to hear that you've jumped ship (so to speak) to the August cruise. What a difficult decision, but you have certainly thought it out. We are sticking with the July cruise but haven't had a second to think about it during hockey season.

Keep checking in Annie - you can still be part of our disboard.

Thanks, Keever! It really was one of those decisions that took a lot of soul searching to reach. I think we'd have stuck with the 10 night if it hadn't been for DH's car.:headache: That just sent me into a financial overload!:guilty: BUT in the meantime, I am trying to be positive about the 7 night one and sandwiching it inbetween Paris & Barcelona. It should still be an awesome vacation.

I do not follow Hockey. Probably because I didn't grow up with it where I grew up. I take it your boys play?

[nikitta28]

We just booked while on board the 7 day eastern. Very exciting to research the ports of call. Id like to make it an educational experience for my kids as well. We are game for the fish extender and a meet and greet.

plenty of time to plan!

Currently we have

Mom Dad and Grammy

DD - age 11 (will be 13 on cruise)
DD - age 9 (will turn 11 on cruise)
DS - age 7 (will be 9)
DD - age 5 (will be 7)

:banana::banana::banana::banana:

[Anal Annie]

Hey ya'll...boy you have been QUIET since I jumped ship!! I found you all the way back on page 5!!! :eek:

I have jumped in feet first for my Aug. 13 cruise and have decided to start a website for it. I was just collecting WAY too much info. in my notebook and decided it would be a lot easier to keep everything organized if I connected links to all the sites & hotels & tours etc. SOO much neater and more eco-friendly!! I will be glad to ditch all the paper! It is coming along pretty good...but is a LONG way from done.

Well, just popping in to say hi!! TTYL

[msabol01]

After much soul searching and discussion we have decide to not do this cruise this year. For us t was mainly the ages of the children and the itinerary, but we will just blame Annie for being the trend setter ;). So instead we are doing a seven day over thanksgiving.

I will keep this thread open best of luck to all of you.

[Anal Annie]

After much soul searching and discussion we have decide to not do this cruise this year. For us t was mainly the ages of the children and the itinerary, but we will just blame Annie for being the trend setter ;). So instead we are doing a seven day over thanksgiving.

I will keep this thread open best of luck to all of you.

Oh SURE...blame ME!!:sad2: Sorry to hear you bailed too. We'd have stuck with it if it wasn't for that darned car repair... So are you going THIS Thanksgiving or next?? I'm sure at least the flights will be easier for you. I'm still in sticker shock over the price of the international flights. Somebody had told me I could probably eventually get them for under $800 but I haven't seen that kind of price pop up yet... I keep watching the fares for this summer so I can budget...but it's looking more & more like $1,000-$1,200 pp. So the word of the day is 'BUDGET'!

Good luck to you too!:goodvibes

[Anal Annie]

Hey there Keever!! :wave: You need to go out there & drum yourself up a little business girl!! You need some more peeps to sail with!! Just givin' ya a bump back up to the surface!! :goodvibes

[liemge]

We are booked for July 20, 2011. New to posting on the Disboards, LOL. Hello everyone!!

[thetripletgang]

We are also on this cruise...we can't wait!:dance3:

[clarasunnyside]

Hello everyone..


I think we need to name this thread... any ideas :upsidedow

[wendyk]

We are also on this cruise. Thought I'd just drop in to let you folks know that the prices for this sailing have gone down considerably. A CAT 5A with 2 adults & 2 kids has been lowered by 3400.00. BIG Savings!!
Just want everyone to check their prices. More money for excursions!!:cool1:

Wendy

[Keever]

Hello fellow cruisers! It's so great to discover that more families have signed on.

So far it seems we are a group of seven. I count the following:

Keever - DW, DH, DS 15, DS 13, from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Cabin 5022
jtw999 - DS 13, DS, 11, DS 8, from British Columbia, Canada
nikitta29 -DD 13, DD 11, DS 9, DD 7 from Buffalo, New York ,USA
wendyk - from Alberta, Canada
liemge
thetriplegang
clarasunnyside -from Sunnyside, New York, USA


Any ideas for naming this thread?

Anyone want to participate in fish-extender?

Only 388 days to create stateroom door magnets!

Keever

[clarasunnyside]

Hello fellow cruisers! It's so great to discover that more families have signed on.

So far it seems we are a group of seven. I count the following:

Keever - DW, DH, DS 15, DS 13, from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Cabin 5022
jtw999 - DS 13, DS, 11, DS 8, from British Columbia, Canada
nikitta29 -DD 13, DD 11, DS 9, DD 7 from Buffalo, New York ,USA
wendyk - from Alberta, Canada
liemge
thetriplegang
clarasunnyside -from Sunnyside, New York, USA



Any ideas for naming this thread?

Anyone want to participate in fish-extender?

Only 388 days to create stateroom door magnets!

Keever



We would love to participate in the fish extender.

We need to get a name so more people can find us and sign on...Only 388 days Oh biy need to start working on those :goodvibes

[Keever]

Great! A fish-extender enthusiast! How many in your party? Ages? Let the crafting begin!

I haven't had a flash of insight for a catchy name for this thread. My unoriginal idea is "Magic Med Mousekeeters" -includes the ship, the destination, the people. Or DIScover Med Magic - includes the DIS boards.

I've included AnalAnnie's and msabol's ideas (before they jumped ship, so to speak):

Mickey's Roman Empire Tour
Pirates of the Mediterranean
Mickey's Mediterranen Mates
Mickey's Mediterranean Mouseketeers
Mouseketeers in the Med
Mickey's Magical Mouseketeers take the Med
Mickey's Maritime Mediterranean Marauders on the Magic
Magical Maniacs sail the Medirterranean
Mickey's Magical Med Maniacs
Mickey's Magic Med Marauders
Mickey's Magical Mates
Marauding Magical Meditteranean Mates
Mickey's Marauding Maniacs
Mickey's Marauding Mouseketeers


These have been taken:
To Barcelona and Beyond! - Why didn't I think of this one?
Mickey’s Maurading Mates –Anal Annie chose this one.

I don't know of an easy way to check what names have been taken.

What do you think?

385 days!

Keever

[Anal Annie]

Great! A fish-extender enthusiast! How many in your party? Ages? Let the crafting begin!

I haven't had a flash of insight for a catchy name for this thread. My unoriginal idea is "Magic Med Mousekeeters" -includes the ship, the destination, the people. Or DIScover Med Magic - includes the DIS boards.

I've included AnalAnnie's and msabol's ideas (before they jumped ship, so to speak):

Mickey's Roman Empire Tour
Pirates of the Mediterranean
Mickey's Mediterranen Mates
Mickey's Mediterranean Mouseketeers
Mouseketeers in the Med
Mickey's Magical Mouseketeers take the Med
Mickey's Maritime Mediterranean Marauders on the Magic
Magical Maniacs sail the Medirterranean
Mickey's Magical Med Maniacs
Mickey's Magic Med Marauders
Mickey's Magical Mates
Marauding Magical Meditteranean Mates
Mickey's Marauding Maniacs
Mickey's Marauding Mouseketeers


These have been taken:
To Barcelona and Beyond! - Why didn't I think of this one?
Mickey’s Maurading Mates –Anal Annie chose this one.

I don't know of an easy way to check what names have been taken.

What do you think?

385 days!

Keever

:wave2: Hi Keever!! Glad to see your thread is picking up with some new peeps (I'm still subscribed popcorn::). My Maurading Mates cruise is running a little slow - I think August is not for sale full blast yet on all the cruise websites. I picked up a couple of peeps but they don't chat all that much (I get lonely)!! I looked the other day on CruisesOnly.com and my August date didn't come up as a choice - I think it's restricted to whatever's available 12 mo. out maybe.:confused3 I am hoping to pick up some more peeps in a month or so. But on the BRIGHT SIDE when DCL started discounting the 2011 Meds we decided to upgrade to a balcony cabin for only a little bit more than what we WERE paying in our SPH cabin. They didn't discount the inside cabins as much as they did the balconies so it seemed like a good deal to upgrade! After our rebooking discount and with the increased OBC from DU it's only costing us $388 more to go from the 10A to a 5C!!:woohoo: I'm psyched!! :banana: A REAL balcony - plexiglass, not Navigators or solid white wall but an actual REAL balcony!!:rotfl: The SPH cabins are a great value but this seemed like a real deal too!!

Good luck choosing a name for your cruise thread!! I found that 'Mediterranean' can get hard to spell after awhile - especially with iffy typing skills!!!:rotfl: I am glad I chose a name that didn't include it!!! FWIW I like the idea of including the DIS in the name!!!:goodvibes On my last cruise meet we were called the "DIS-Functional Wonder peeps".

Anyway....just checking in to say hi!! ;)

[Keever]

Annie! It's so good to hear from you!

How exciting about your fancy cabin! Wonderful! I've seen pics and dreamed of a balcony - lucky you!

Do keep checking in with this thread. We're just getting started. I've been checking your link. Now that summer's here I have some time to do some research and planning.

Any assistance with a thread name is welcome. I found slogan generator sites and this is what popped up when I put in DIS Med Cruise:

If there is a will, there is a DIS med cruise.
DIS med cruise is going places.
DIS med cruise right as rain.
DIS med cruise one size fits all.
DIS med cruise is the buzz.
Create your kind of holiday on DIS Med Cruise.
DIS Med Cruise - Just a Smile Away
DIS Med Cruise is a ten!
Go farther with DIS Med Cruise.
I can’t believe it’s DIS Med Cruise.
DIS Med Cruise. We build smiles.
DIS Med Cruise never sleeps.
Life’s beautiful with DIS Med Cruise.
Because I’m worth DIS Med Cruise
A tough DIS Med Cruise to follow.
Silly rabbit DIS Med Cruise is for kids.
More DIS Med Cruise please.
DIS Med Cruise? You bet.


Perhaps my travel-mates will have ideas. DIS Med Cruise is a ten! could be unique to our ten night sailing.

I'll wait for the rest to weigh in with ideas. Too much thinking on my holidays!!!!

How many sleeps 'til your cruise?

Keever

[clarasunnyside]

Hi Keever,
Magic Med Mouseketeers is my first choice
DIS Med Cruise is a ten! is my second choice.


Its me DH, DS (will be 11) , DS (will be 10)

My sister and her family are also coming will check and see if she is interested in participating on the fish extender.

[Keever]

Hi Clara! A big hello to you, your sister and families!

Thanks for weighing in on names for the thread. I've got a few more ideas - variations on Disney taglines. How about:

Ship of a million dreams
Eight ports, one ship (aka four parks, one world)
Come live the Magic!
Zippity cruise dah!
The happiest ship at sea

From pirate68 on micechat.com: Magic happens!

Or for our group:
Mouseketeer Cruising Association
Fans of Towel Animals

Just for fun I ran these through the piratespeak translator, if we want a Jack Sparrow Twist

Ahoy, ship of a million dreams
Arrrr, eight ports, one ship. Garrrr.
Arrr, come liv' the Magic. Aye, me parrot concurs.
Ahoy, come liv' the magic. Aye.
Arrrr, mouseketeer cruisin' association
Aye, magic happens, aye.


Do any of these appeal to your family?

I promise not to generate any more ideas. My DH says I'll scare people!!! Really, I'm just playing around with the computer to avoid getting started on some chores!

Is this your first cruise?

Keever

[clarasunnyside]

Hey there.


Please tell your husband you could never scare us away..We are a Mickey Crazy family..

so I went over the names with the boys

my DS(8) says you should pick the name since you have done so much work trying to find the perfect name. So Cute

My DS(10) just added another name to the mix..Mickey's European explorers

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi Guys
We haven't booked yet but are hoping too shortly. Everything depends on work at the moment and whether I can get someone to look after things while I'm away. But I'm moving ahead as though we are definitely travelling.
We are Me, DH, DD6 and DD9. It will be our second cruise with DCL and we plan on seeing a bit of Italy while we are in Europe and also spending a week at Disneyland Paris.
We have played around with dates a bit and really wanted to do the 11 night cruise but its just a few days early for us. But we are really happy with this one.
Just wanted to say hi.

[msabol01]

Hi Keever,

Since you're now the defacto leader please PM when the group comes up with a name. I think I have to change it since I started this thread. Hope you are well and I sure an wishing I was joining you, we continue to second guess our decision to switch out to a Thanksgiving 7 day since the kids may be a bit young for a Med Cruise (ie lots of walking ).

[clarasunnyside]

I was booked on the med cruise for 8/18/10. but had to reschedule for this one. One of the women on the blog started a web page for the cruise. I think if we can get someone to do this for our cruise it would be great.

http://web.me.com/mnconnoll/Magical_Mediterranean/Welcome.html

[Keever]

I love "Mickey's European Explorers". Well done, DS aged 10. I say we go with this name for our thread. I envision lots of cool graphics involving antique compasses - perhaps with ears. Shall I PM Mike to get him to name the thread?

Welcome PrincessBelle39and clarabelle's sister's family. Yay, more peeps! More FEs. The fun continues!!!!

I checked the link to the website. Very cool. I would love to create one; alas, I have no skill set. (I am proud of my ability to put text in a PowerPoint -that is my level of technological achievement.) However, if no one else possesses the ability to create a website I'm keen to track down someone who can help me. DS 14 and niece 24 say they know hmtl which I gather is useful in the process? I'm off to Chapter's to look at "Websites for Dummies" if no one volunteers...

Along the technology line, as I am still earning my ears, can anyone let me know how to add all the pics and details under my signature?

July 19th today - one year, one day to wait.

Keever

[Anal Annie]

Hey Keever - you can surely do the website! Take a look at this one too - Weebly.com is the freebie one that I used to start the site for my Aug. 13 cruise (which is sinking fast)!!:rotfl: Anyway, it is pretty easy to figure out. Very basic but workable. Click on this link to watch a demo on how it works.

http://www.weebly.com/?login=1

This is the one I started with Weebly before I got sidetracked (just so you can see what you can do with it): http://mickeysmaraudingmates.weebly.com/

Of course I started out full ahead with the website then lost steam this spring when I got busy. Never finished adding in more hotels & sightseeing. Never got around to working on all the port pages.:sad2: Now I am losing peeps to the Aug. 27 cruise because it is cheaper and so I really have no heart in working on finishing it. I DO wish we could've stayed on the longer cruise but I am not switching AGAIN. The cost of the 7-nighter fits our budget better. But I am about to give up on my Maurading Mates tho. Two jumped ship & two went on vacation & never came back!!:rotfl: I just hope it will mean more discounts or free upgrades later down the road!! Glad you are not lonely any more!!

[clarasunnyside]

I love "Mickey's European Explorers". Well done, DS aged 10. I say we go with this name for our thread. I envision lots of cool graphics involving antique compasses - perhaps with ears. Shall I PM Mike to get him to name the thread?

Welcome PrincessBelle39and clarabelle's sister's family. Yay, more peeps! More FEs. The fun continues!!!!

I checked the link to the website. Very cool. I would love to create one; alas, I have no skill set. (I am proud of my ability to put text in a PowerPoint -that is my level of technological achievement.) However, if no one else possesses the ability to create a website I'm keen to track down someone who can help me. DS 14 and niece 24 say they know hmtl which I gather is useful in the process? I'm off to Chapter's to look at "Websites for Dummies" if no one volunteers...

Along the technology line, as I am still earning my ears, can anyone let me know how to add all the pics and details under my signature?

July 19th today - one year, one day to wait.

Keever



If it works then lets name it. :yay:

I also am not very computer savvy :surfweb:, but will help if needed

I will Tell Anil he will be so happy you likes the name...

If you go to "quick links" on the upper right hand corner..it will have the edit signature you can go on there and change your signature.

[msabol01]

It's been done. :thumbsup2

I love "Mickey's European Explorers". Well done, DS aged 10. I say we go with this name for our thread. I envision lots of cool graphics involving antique compasses - perhaps with ears. Shall I PM Mike to get him to name the thread?

Welcome PrincessBelle39and clarabelle's sister's family. Yay, more peeps! More FEs. The fun continues!!!!

I checked the link to the website. Very cool. I would love to create one; alas, I have no skill set. (I am proud of my ability to put text in a PowerPoint -that is my level of technological achievement.) However, if no one else possesses the ability to create a website I'm keen to track down someone who can help me. DS 14 and niece 24 say they know hmtl which I gather is useful in the process? I'm off to Chapter's to look at "Websites for Dummies" if no one volunteers...

Along the technology line, as I am still earning my ears, can anyone let me know how to add all the pics and details under my signature?

July 19th today - one year, one day to wait.

Keever

[msabol01]

Hey Keever - you can surely do the website! Take a look at this one too - Weebly.com is the freebie one that I used to start the site for my Aug. 13 cruise (which is sinking fast)!!:rotfl: Anyway, it is pretty easy to figure out. Very basic but workable. Click on this link to watch a demo on how it works.

http://www.weebly.com/?login=1

This is the one I started with Weebly before I got sidetracked (just so you can see what you can do with it): http://mickeysmaraudingmates.weebly.com/

Of course I started out full ahead with the website then lost steam this spring when I got busy. Never finished adding in more hotels & sightseeing. Never got around to working on all the port pages.:sad2: Now I am losing peeps to the Aug. 27 cruise because it is cheaper and so I really have no heart in working on finishing it. I DO wish we could've stayed on the longer cruise but I am not switching AGAIN. The cost of the 7-nighter fits our budget better. But I am about to give up on my Maurading Mates tho. Two jumped ship & two went on vacation & never came back!!:rotfl: I just hope it will mean more discounts or free upgrades later down the road!! Glad you are not lonely any more!!


Wow! That Looks AWESOME Annie! We've contemplated going on the 13 Aug 7 day, but we still struggle with our kiddies being a tab young for a European trip. So we are doing the 2011 Thanksgiving 7 Day.

[Keever]

Annie, come back!
Mike, come back!
This cruise is going to be fun!

Keever

[PrincessBelle39]

I love the name. I think we can have lots of fun with this one.
I can't believe its just a year away now.

[Keever]

ONE YEAR to go! :dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3:
I'm sure it will fly by!


Thanks to Anal Annie, I am now a website designer. Here's the address to the bare bones website I created in less than thirty minutes this morning. Send me any details you wish to include.

http://mickeyseuropeanexplorers.weebly.com

Keever

[Anal Annie]

ONE YEAR to go! :dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3:
I'm sure it will fly by!


Thanks to Anal Annie, I am now a website designer. Here's the address to the bare bones website I created in less than thirty minutes this morning. Send me any details you wish to include.

http://mickeyseuropeanexplorers.weebly.com

Keever

Way to go Keever!! You done good girl!! :thumbsup2 I like the "home port" thing - very clever!! I told ya you could do it!! :goodvibes

[Anal Annie]

Wow! That Looks AWESOME Annie! We've contemplated going on the 13 Aug 7 day, but we still struggle with our kiddies being a tab young for a European trip. So we are doing the 2011 Thanksgiving 7 Day.

Well, just so you can think about it :rolleyes1 there are now 3 SPH cabins available again on my Aug. 13 cruise (5020, 5520 and 5022)!!!! I had one that we gave up in order to upgrade to a 5C after the price cuts a couple weeks ago, one of my cruise mates also had one that she gave up in order to upgrade and the other one opened when another girl jumped over to the Aug. 27 date in order to upgrade without adding any cost to her fare.:goodvibes

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi Keever
I love the website. Well done. You can add us to the FE list. We had such fun with this last time.

[thetripletgang]

Hello Keever!
Great job on the web site... I love it!!!!
Our family info is:
Me and my DH and DS(10), DD(10) and DD(10) from outside Phila. PA.
We look forward to making new DIS friends leading up to the cruise!

[clarasunnyside]

Hello everyone just checking to say hello :wave2:


Keever LOVE the website..........So excited.


Have A Great Weekend Everyone :goodvibes

[Keever]

This is my summer of tech learning. Thanks to support of "my peeps" I have changed my avatar, added to my signature and created a website. Thanks so much for all your help.:surfweb:

I have edited the website by adding pics - my latest new skill. If you wish to be added to the FE Mates group, or wish details added on the Explorers page let me know.

www.mickeyseuropeanexplorers.weebly.com

So, how far along is everyone in their planning? I'm waiting for my PassPorter Cruise book to arrive before I think about excursions. I read a thread about hotels in Barcelona that sleep four in a room so I'm looking into this. What is the usual time frame for booking these? Now? Six months out? June 2011?!!!?

Are there any ports for which an excursion would not be mandatory? Any place a family could get off the ship and explore on their own?

Keever

[clarasunnyside]

Keever the website looks amazing. Awesome Job...sending you a High Five.........

We have not started to look into anything yet..We are going to Disney In September for a week to celebrate my sister's successful surgery...so once we get back we will concentrate on this trip 100%.

but if you look at this site it has great information

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2288346

[Kaleigh]

We did this cruise in May and are looking to do it again next year, possible these dates. I created the website for our cruise and have all our navigators if anyone has any questions. The website is in my signature. This cruise is amazing; you will have a blast!

[clarasunnyside]

We did this cruise in May and are looking to do it again next year, possible these dates. I created the website for our cruise and have all our navigators if anyone has any questions. The website is in my signature. This cruise is amazing; you will have a blast!


Hi Kaleigh :wave2:

I am going to read your report and I am sure I think of many questions.. I hope you guys can join us on this cruise.

[Keever]

Wow, Kayleigh! Thanks so much for the details! And the links!
Do join us for this cruise. We are Mickey's European Explorers and we rock! Such fun we'll have!

I'm off to read all about your trip. I see that you had some days that you explored without Disney excursions. Which ports would you recommend as being easy to visit on your own?

Keever

[abdmom]

I'm thinking of doing this cruise. I did the 11 night back in May and had a fabulous time. DD12 and I are signed up for the Egypt ABD leaving August 1 and this would make a perfect trip to do "on the way".

On our 11 night cruise, we had about a hundred "Disboard" staterooms booked. It looks like this cruise isn't booked up at all. Does anyone think there will be more discounts?

[Keever]

Do join us abdmom! We are few (so far) but will make excellent travelling companions.

I don't know if more discounts will be offered. Wouldn't that be nice?! I'd be happy to be bumped up a few cabin categories. We have a secret porthole room, but could be easily convinced to accept a fancy stateroom with verandah.
:goodvibes

Say when and I'll add you to the explorer list on our website.

Keever

[Meg'n'walt]

Hello everybody,

We're just back from the last Baltic and booked this cruise for next year !
We are DH Jos (44), DS Walt (8) and Me(40).

[Anal Annie]

Wow Keever! Your cruise is picking up mates left & right!! :thumbsup2 You are really on fire now - and your website is coming along quite nicely!! Well done!! Meanwhile...my little August cruise is down to only 3 families as some jump to even cheaper cruise dates.:sad2: I suppose that means those of us who are left shall have our PICK of lounge chairs and free cabin upgrades galore!?! :rotfl:

[Meg'n'walt]

oh, yes, before I forget it !! Count us in for the FE gifts and of course the DIS meet !

Cool website, Keever, keep up the good work :thumbsup2:thumbsup2
Thats a first time for us in 5 DIS meet cruises we really have our own website !:banana::cool1:

[Keever]

We are becoming quite a crew. I count 10 families in our explorer group, and two "maybe's". Yay!

How full do these cruises get? I was looking at some of the links and there seems to be quite a bit of space to dance on the deck at the sail away party. I see that there are still SPH rooms available too. When do most people book trips - a year ahead? Just wondering...

I shouldn't be excited yet, but I AM!!!

Keever

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi everyone
Especially to those that are new since my last post (i've been a bit slack in posting), and those considering cruising with us. Kaleigh - I'm going to enjoy reading your trip report. I think I might sit down with that this afternoon.
adbmum - I'm really hoping there are some discounts. There were some great prices this year for the med cruises. I'm hoping these will be offered again for next year. This one particularly looks to be wide open availability wise. I was suprised too about the SPH rooms still being available Keever. I would have thought it would have been a bit heavier booked by now. We've been planning ourselves for months.
We are making quite a trip out of this. Its such a long way for just the cruise. Its over 24hours in travel time. So we need to make the most out of it and see a bit of Europe at the same time. And I really want to come back via Orlando. I know its a bit out of the way but doesn't make a lot of difference to the airfare. The only thing is time. I wanted to keep it to 4 weeks, but it I'm upto 5 weeks and can't seem to cut it down. In fact I'd add more to Orlando if I could. There's so much to organise though. I'm a big planner, I love it. But I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. Not just with the trip planning but organising the housesitter and work etc. I'm so excited though. Already thinking of what to do for FE gifts.

[Anal Annie]

Wow! The July 20 cruise is moving full steam ahead!! :thumbsup2 If ya'll don't mind I might just keep visiting with Keever from time to time...at least until my cruise picks up some more customers!:goodvibes

I wanted to see how many of you gals have heard of "Switch Flops"?! I heard about them awhile back but just recently FOUND them in my local Hallmark store and I am ADDICTED to them!! They are SOOO cute and SOOO practical for something like a cruise!! There is also a UK website and I have found some on eBay!! :thumbsup2 At first I picked up the one called "Lilly" with the kitten heel in cork and a spare strap ("Roz")...then I quickly became obsessed and bought the "Taylor" in black and another strap ("Nina"). (I have obsessive OCD tendencies which is ONE reason why I am Anal Annie!:rotfl:) I found about 3 or 4 more straps online thru Ebay that I think I am going to order (I have some funds sitting in my PayPal account that would cover them.):rolleyes1 This whole mixing and matching thing is going to help sooo much with packing for the cruise!! They are so small & lightweight too! :thumbsup2 Here's the link to the website - it is very cool - you can select a sandal and then a strap & click on it to see what it would look like!! Now I am keeping my eye out for the one called "Marie" in black...:lmao:

http://www.switchflops.com/cart/home.php#shoe=lilly-cork&strap=dflt

http://www.switchflops.com/cart/home.php#shoe=taylor-black&strap=dflt

(PS) They come is whole sizes & most of the websites say to order UP a size 'cuz they say the run small...However I have a very narrow foot & usually wear either a 6.5 or a 7 (US) but I bought mine in the size 6 (US). When I tried the 7's on they were WAY to wide for my skinny little foot. I was glad I found them in a store to try them on first...

[PrincessBelle39]

I've just been planning out our nights (should be working but i'm not :) ) and I'm actually at 6 weeks away, not 5 as I had originally thought. I really need to get rid of a week, but can't see how I can. I don't want to drop WDW.

[helenreed]

Hi,
We are DVC members and have cruised with Disney before but not in the Med. My question is should I stick with Disney organised port excursions which seem really expensive or try and organise them my self which seems a bit scary! We are 2 adults and 3 kids and I have been to Italy before and know how crazy taxi drivers can be! My kids really want to see a lot in Rome and Pompeii, I would like to see the Amalfi coast, Pisa and Florence. We are also looking to stay in Barcelona before and after the cruise but need a family room which seems quite hard to find. Should we stick with Disney hotels? And lastly, we are staying in a family stateroom on deck 8 which we have stayed in before, but not with 3 kids, will I be ready to kill them by the end of 10 days due to lack of space? I have tried to upgrade to a 1 bed suite but they are all full. I am a Disneyworld nut and know everything there is to know about it there but am finding this a scary experience! Help please!:)

[Anal Annie]

Hi,
We are DVC members and have cruised with Disney before but not in the Med. My question is should I stick with Disney organised port excursions which seem really expensive or try and organise them my self which seems a bit scary! We are 2 adults and 3 kids and I have been to Italy before and know how crazy taxi drivers can be! My kids really want to see a lot in Rome and Pompeii, I would like to see the Amalfi coast, Pisa and Florence. We are also looking to stay in Barcelona before and after the cruise but need a family room which seems quite hard to find. Should we stick with Disney hotels? And lastly, we are staying in a family stateroom on deck 8 which we have stayed in before, but not with 3 kids, will I be ready to kill them by the end of 10 days due to lack of space? I have tried to upgrade to a 1 bed suite but they are all full. I am a Disneyworld nut and know everything there is to know about it there but am finding this a scary experience! Help please!:)


Hi Helen! Welcome to the DIS!! :welcome: I see this was your first post EVER!! NOW that you've found the DISboards you will be a true Disney addict!!

I WAS on this cruise for awhile (back in the beginning) but have since hopped over to one of the August cruises...I still pop in here to say hey sometimes (my cruise doesn't seem to be selling so well & is quite the lonely one). I can offer my 2 cents on your questions even though I'm just a visitor now...

FIRST, many, many families of 5 book 2 cheaper cabins rather than the family staterooms. They often work out to be cheaper than the one cabin and this offers twice the space and TWO bathrooms.:thumbsup2 So my suggestion for that is to get prices for say a Cat 5 or Cat 6 with an inside cabin across the hall if your kids are old enough to sleep in their own room OR two conncecting cabins if the kids are too young to sleep alone. (Note - when booking 2 cabins you will have to put an adult in each during the booking process but then you just SLEEP anyway you wish. This is VERY commonly done.) If you were willing to shell out the $$$ for a suite then this should provide a comparable solution!

Excursions - hang out here on the DIS for awhile and you will see that many families are choosing to do these cities on their own or are booking private tour operators for Rome & Naples in particular. Sometimes thru your meet thread you can hook up with another family or another couple who want to do the same things you do so you can share the cost of the tour. There are several operators who have been reported to be quite good and the cost works out better than going thru DCL PLUS you get to see what you want to see at a better pace than being with a whole bus load of other people. Tunis might be an exception where you want to stick to a DCL excursion as that is a Muslim country and is quite different from what many of us are used to. It's probably a safer bet there to stick to DCL.

Hotels - again, hang out here on the cruise board for awhile & you will be able to find a lot of other options besides the ones that DCL is using. You CAN even book the same hotels for a lot less by booking them on your own. DCL has put a HUGE markup on them 'cuz they're out to make money. If you go online & price them yourself you will see QUITE a price difference. And just because DCL is using them doesn't mean they're all that family friendly. There are lots of threads about hotels - keep an eye out for them.

You have definitely found THE right spot to get answers for your questions!! Kaleigh (another poster on this thread) has already done this cruise once so she will be an INVALUABLE source!

[helenreed]

Thank you so much for your advice, unfortunately I have already booked my stateroom on my points through DVC and don't think I will have enough to change but I will def look into it! I am finding the whole DIS thing very new and overwhelming and don't really know where to start! Do I need to register somewhere for a meet on board? It would be really nice to chat to some people who are going to be on the cruise. We have just come back from 3 weeks at WDW and I am having withdrawal symptoms and henc why I am starting to plan our next vacation! Your help is really appreciated!

P.S. Have just got off the phone with DVC and have switched to 2 staterooms opposite each other, 150 sq. ft. more space and have saved $1700!!!!! Thank you so much! I am now not dreading the cruise and am really excited, will only have one non-snoring child in with us and teenagers get their own cabin!!!

[helenreed]

Hi Keever,
We have just booked this cruise through DVC, would love to chat, we are WDW veterans but have only done one DCL before, we live in Newcastle, England and there will be myself, my husband, son 13, daughter 11 and daughter 8. I am totally new to DIS so this is all a bit bewildering! Love your website though!:

[Anal Annie]

Thank you so much for your advice, unfortunately I have already booked my stateroom on my points through DVC and don't think I will have enough to change but I will def look into it! I am finding the whole DIS thing very new and overwhelming and don't really know where to start! Do I need to register somewhere for a meet on board? It would be really nice to chat to some people who are going to be on the cruise. We have just come back from 3 weeks at WDW and I am having withdrawal symptoms and henc why I am starting to plan our next vacation! Your help is really appreciated!

P.S. Have just got off the phone with DVC and have switched to 2 staterooms opposite each other, 150 sq. ft. more space and have saved $1700!!!!! Thank you so much! I am now not dreading the cruise and am really excited, will only have one non-snoring child in with us and teenagers get their own cabin!!!

Oh Helen that is WONDERFUL news! I'm glad that suggestion worked out for you without any hassles from DVC! I'm still a little confused if you're talking about 1,700 points or $1,700 tho?! We cruised once on points - we are what I call "points challenged" and just don't have enough points to cruise on without wiping out all of our other vacations! The one time we did it we used up about 1 3/4 yrs worth of points for just 4 nights in a Cat 10...I've decided I'd rather use the points for WDW and we'll just pay cash for cruises...I hated being out of points!!

The DIS cruise board is the right place to get your answers! Congrats on your switch!!

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi helenreed, you will love it hear at the Dis. Disney information is almost non existent over here so without the Dis, we would have been lost planning our previous trips. Although it has helped fuel the addiction to Disney.
My dd's will be 6 and 9 when we cruise. The 9 year old will only have turned 9 the month before so a similar age to yours. We are planning a mixture of DCL and non-DCL excursions although aren't definite at the moment. Tunis will definitely be a DCL excursion. I think we will do the DCL Cinque Terre one also. I didn't think the price was too bad. Rome we are staying on the ship but we are having a couple of days in Rome (as well as Venice and Florence) after the cruise. The others we thought we might look into doing ourselves or hiring a private car as nothing does quite exactly what we want. Anyway, I'm sure we will gets lots of ideas here. Have fun with your planning.

[helenreed]

Oh Helen that is WONDERFUL news! I'm glad that suggestion worked out for you without any hassles from DVC! I'm still a little confused if you're talking about 1,700 points or $1,700 tho?! We cruised once on points - we are what I call "points challenged" and just don't have enough points to cruise on without wiping out all of our other vacations! The one time we did it we used up about 1 3/4 yrs worth of points for just 4 nights in a Cat 10...I've decided I'd rather use the points for WDW and we'll just pay cash for cruises...I hated being out of points!!

The DIS cruise board is the right place to get your answers! Congrats on your switch!!

We are also points challenged so I had to pay cash for one of the kids and that is what we have had refunded so I am delighted! We have also had to use 2 years worth of points but I am sure it will be worth it, we have just gor back from 3 weeks at the Boardwalk so it is so nice to have something to look forward to, thanks again for all your advice, it is very much appreciated!

[helenreed]

Hi helenreed, you will love it hear at the Dis. Disney information is almost non existent over here so without the Dis, we would have been lost planning our previous trips. Although it has helped fuel the addiction to Disney.
My dd's will be 6 and 9 when we cruise. The 9 year old will only have turned 9 the month before so a similar age to yours. We are planning a mixture of DCL and non-DCL excursions although aren't definite at the moment. Tunis will definitely be a DCL excursion. I think we will do the DCL Cinque Terre one also. I didn't think the price was too bad. Rome we are staying on the ship but we are having a couple of days in Rome (as well as Venice and Florence) after the cruise. The others we thought we might look into doing ourselves or hiring a private car as nothing does quite exactly what we want. Anyway, I'm sure we will gets lots of ideas here. Have fun with your planning.

Hi, thanks so much for your advice I think I am now becoming a DIS addict!

[DLRPfan.be]

Hi everyone: we just returned from the repo cruise Dover-Barcelona, and yes: we've booked this one for next year. DCL made us an offer we couldn't refuse...
We are:
DH: DLRPfan.be (Dirk) 52
DW: Tine (43)
DD: Manon (15)
We love to do the FE, and we're already lookin' forward for the DISmeet.
Great to now that there will be at least 2 Belgian family's onboard ;)

[Keever]

Welcome aboard to the latest newcomers Meg ‘n walt, DLRPfan.be and helenreed and your families. It is great to have more fellow explorers and DISfriends. I have added your names to the Explorers list on our website and to the FE page if you have indicated you wish to participate. If any other Explorers wish to have details added on the site let me know and I will post any information you wish to share.

By my count, we have 12 families aboard
1 from UK
1 from Australia
3 from Canada
4 from USA
2 from Belgium
1 TBD

We have two other DISfriends who are “maybes”.

14 Disney sons (ages 15, 13, 13, 13, 11,11,11,10,10,10,10,9,8,8) based on preliminary information

7 Disney daughters (ages 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6) based on preliminary information

Four families have agreed to participate in the Fish Extenders exchange. All Explorers are welcome to join in. Let me know. I’ll try to add some information links to our website for FE.

So, how many sleeps until we sail? 348?

Helenreed, I am so happy that you joined the boards and were able to get some savings as a result of Anal Annie’s advice. She is a font of knowledge! We too have banked and borrowed DVC points for this trip and every bit of savings that can be had means more to spend on the trip. When the cruise prices dropped, I contacted DVC to see if there would be a similar discount to the points, but no such luck. (Seems the general “pay in cash” public seems to get a better deal on cruises than DVC members…) However, if they announce a repeat of the kids sail free in the Med deal, I’ll be looking into this again as one child is not on points and is a paid fare. Whatever. We’re aboard and very excited!!!!!!

Kaleigh kindly sent me a PM with ideas about ports and excursions. So far, we’re leaning toward excursions for Rome, Florence, Tunis and Pompeii. We’ll look to explore the other ports on our own. This may change as I do some research. There are some links on page one of our threads that I’ve been looking at.

Planning is half the fun!:goodvibes

[helenreed]

Welcome aboard to the latest newcomers Meg ‘n walt, DLRPfan.be and helenreed and your families. It is great to have more fellow explorers and DISfriends. I have added your names to the Explorers list on our website and to the FE page if you have indicated you wish to participate. If any other Explorers wish to have details added on the site let me know and I will post any information you wish to share.

By my count, we have 12 families aboard
1 from UK
1 from Australia
3 from Canada
4 from USA
2 from Belgium
1 TBD

We have two other DISfriends who are “maybes”.

14 Disney sons (ages 15, 13, 13, 13, 11,11,11,10,10,10,10,9,8,8) based on preliminary information

7 Disney daughters (ages 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6) based on preliminary information

Four families have agreed to participate in the Fish Extenders exchange. All Explorers are welcome to join in. Let me know. I’ll try to add some information links to our website for FE.

So, how many sleeps until we sail? 348?

Helenreed, I am so happy that you joined the boards and were able to get some savings as a result of Anal Annie’s advice. She is a font of knowledge! We too have banked and borrowed DVC points for this trip and every bit of savings that can be had means more to spend on the trip. When the cruise prices dropped, I contacted DVC to see if there would be a similar discount to the points, but no such luck. (Seems the general “pay in cash” public seems to get a better deal on cruises than DVC members…) However, if they announce a repeat of the kids sail free in the Med deal, I’ll be looking into this again as one child is not on points and is a paid fare. Whatever. We’re aboard and very excited!!!!!!

Kaleigh kindly sent me a PM with ideas about ports and excursions. So far, we’re leaning toward excursions for Rome, Florence, Tunis and Pompeii. We’ll look to explore the other ports on our own. This may change as I do some research. There are some links on page one of our threads that I’ve been looking at.

Planning is half the fun!:goodvibes

Hi Keever,

I am sure we would like to add our names to the FE page if I knew what one was! Also please can someone put me out of my misery and tell me what a Fish Extender is???!!!!

[helenreed]

Hi Keever,

I am sure we would like to add our names to the FE page if I knew what one was! Also please can someone put me out of my misery and tell me what a Fish Extender is???!!!!

Ok I have done some research and I now totally get it and have purcchased 2 Fish Extenders from Ebay!! Please add our names to the list!

[Keever]

Great helenreed!!!!

I've added your name to the FE list and also some tips from jeanigor regarding the fish extender.

Have you created your magnetic door decorations yet?

Keever

[helenreed]

Great helenreed!!!!

I've added your name to the FE list and also some tips from jeanigor regarding the fish extender.

Have you created your magnetic door decorations yet?

Keever

And that's next on my list! Any tips??

[KatieG73]

Hi everyone,

we have just come off the repositioning cruise from Dover to Barcelona (still in Barcelona, using the free wi-fi in the hotel) and have re-booked for 20th July 2011.

We are - me Katie, DH Donald and DD Niamh (9). We have also booked an additional room for my mum and dad :goodvibes -we needed a balcony for them as they both smoke and got a great price on a cat 5 for them.
:banana::banana::banana:

Just hoping the next 11 months go quickly!!

Katie

[PrincessBelle39]

Great helenreed!!!!

Have you created your magnetic door decorations yet?

Keever

Thats my next job also. I've got my FE from last time but we didn't do the door decorations as we just ran out of time. If I start now, I should be organised. :thumbsup2

[Meg'n'walt]

Hi everyone: we just returned from the repo cruise Dover-Barcelona, and yes: we've booked this one for next year. DCL made us an offer we couldn't refuse...
We are:
DH: DLRPfan.be (Dirk) 52
DW: Tine (43)
DD: Manon (15)
We love to do the FE, and we're already lookin' forward for the DISmeet.
Great to now that there will be at least 2 Belgian family's onboard ;)

Hey Dirk, welcome aboard !! Did you check out the DIS website yet ? Cool, you know !:cool1: http://mickeyseuropeanexplorers.weebly.com/index.html

Belgian greetings !:woohoo:

[Keever]

I have door decorations from our last cruise (Hmmmm, that makes me sound like a frequent cruiser. Our last cruise was actually our only cruise EVER.)

We had the ear decorations on magnet sheets and a variety of hats downloaded and glued onto magnet sheets; these went around the stateroom door number plate and we changed up the hats daily. I had made some small magnets made from Disney stickers that I stuck on paper and then glued to the magnet sheets (mostly recycled promotional items like magnetic business cards that stores hand out…) I added Mickey shaped cutouts and buttons. We had four nameplates made from magnetic photo frames and decorated with cruising stickers from the local scrapbooking store to introduce us. I also found a cute sticker of Mickey and Minnie sitting on a park bench, which I added to an 8x10 photo of a fireworks scene so it looks like they are watching the fireworks. The photo is in fact an image of the Canada Day fireworks over Parliament Hill in our nation’s capital, Ottawa, where we live. And we had a picture of our dog because we miss her when we go away.

Here are the links to DISmember threads created and posted by milliepie. She has created some wonderful graphics that could be used for door decorations and FE if you are crafty.

Part One: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1523226
Part Two: http://www.disboards.com/showthread....47014&page=255
Part Three: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2299290
Part Four: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2440038

If you are looking for the ears to go over the number on your stateroom door check out this thread for some awesome creations:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2172891

If you want to see how others decorate their door, or if you want to post your pics check out this thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2281626

You can also enter “stateroom door decorations” into Google Images and you’ll see some lovely doors.

Webmaster Pete posted this notice as a reminder to avoid damage to the doors.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2434632

Have fun!

[Keever]

Welcome KatieG73 and family to Mickey's European Explorers! Wonderful to have you aboard.

:cool1::banana::yay:

[amandamc8]

Hi Everyone!

We've just got back from the Dover - Barcelona cruise and booked for this one while we were on board... Looking forward to it already! There wil be me and my DD Hayley, who'll be 17 by the time we sail. Keever - love your website!

Anyway, now I've said hello I'm going back to the first page to read all your posts...

Manda x

[Anal Annie]

OK, so why is it that nobody is re-booking MY cruise for next summer?!:confused: Are these fantastic re-booking incentives only for the longer cruises?! What about us folk that need to vacation in August and who got jipped on for the 7 night ones!? First they screw us out of the longer cruises then they let us go sailing alone?! I'm soooo lonely on my cruise!!! :sad:

(Sorry, just venting as there's nobody to vent to on my cruise.):headache:

[scottishwee35]

Hi

After 4th times with Disney Cruise, my kids want go back....

My husband booked it but my family and I already booked with rcci for my special birthday in April 2011 at Florida as we booked the flights last month with full payments... and try to book for 3 days which went sold out as only balcony left ....

so mixed feeling as I know Katie and Dirk (Belguim) which I was sailing on 30 July at Dover to Barcelona was fab times.l...

Think we put it forward to 2012 or win the lottery :thumbsup2

Just wait and see

Scottishwee35

[DLRPfan.be]

[QUOTE=scottishwee35;37789200]
so mixed feeling as I know Katie and Dirk (Belguim) which I was sailing on 30 July at Dover to Barcelona was fab times.l...

Think we put it forward to 2012 or win the lottery :thumbsup2

Just wait and see

Scottishwee35

Just WIN the lottery Deb!!!
Should be great to see you, Ian and the kids back next year... :hug:
DT&M

[scottishwee35]

[

Just WIN the lottery Deb!!!
Should be great to see you, Ian and the kids back next year... :hug:
DT&M

u know that bird's poo on me at Vigo:headache:

then I put my washing on the line and when I do the dishes I saw another bird's poo on my clothes:confused3

I did put money on lottery yesterday, but only had two nos?:sad2:

Scottishwee35

[mca]

Hi everyone

We are booked on this trip also.

We are

DH Moe - 45
DW Nicky - 45
DS Eric - 13
DS Danny - 11

This will be our 8th cruise with DCL

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi Nicky and everyone else that I've missed that are new.
Just wondering how everyone is going with their planning. Or even if anyone has started planning. I cant help myself. We are having a week a couple weeks following the cruise so I'm pretty excited to see that free dining is out. I'm having trouble with a couple of ports though that we are going to. No idea what to do in Corsica and am stuck on La Spezia.

[Keever]

Welcome Moe and family! From our family in Ottawa
Are we neighbours? Will you fly out of Toronto? (We'll probably leave via Montreal.)

Wow! Another 13 year old boy! My younger DS will also be 13 at time of sailing.

Shall I add you to the Fish extender?

I'll add you to the website today.

[mca]

Welcome Moe and family! From our family in Ottawa
Are we neighbours? Will you fly out of Toronto? (We'll probably leave via Montreal.)

Wow! Another 13 year old boy! My younger DS will also be 13 at time of sailing.

Shall I add you to the Fish extender?

I'll add you to the website today.

Hi

We are from Sudbury, and will be flying through Toronto. Presently thinking of flying on the previous friday to Heathrow for a pre trip to London.

[Willem]

Hi all!

We'll be on the cruise too! Booked this morning...
It will be me (30) and my bfriend (31). We're from Belgium.
Are really looking forward to this cruise! :yay:

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi all!

We'll be on the cruise too! Booked this morning...
It will be me (30) and my bfriend (31). We're from Belgium.
Are really looking forward to this cruise! :yay:

NIce to meet you Willem and congratulations on booking.

[helenreed]

Hi Willem! Nice to have you aboard!

[DLRPfan.be]

Hi all!

We'll be on the cruise too! Booked this morning...
It will be me (30) and my bfriend (31). We're from Belgium.
Are really looking forward to this cruise! :yay:

Hé hé, already 3 different families from Belgium: must be a record ! :laughing:
Welcome aboard!

[Anal Annie]

:wave2: Hey everyone!

KEEVER!! Your website has really taken off girl!! Good job!! You have a real party going on over here!! :rockband: I am impressed!!!

My cruise is still a dud. I shall be :drinking: drinking alone!! :rotfl: I wish I would pick up some more peeps...I'd like to fiddle with my :badpc: website some more but it's disheartening to mess with it when I am the only one using it! :lmao: I added a new currency converter the other day that I like better than the old one...it works right from the website rather than having to follow a link to one. My math skills are pretty ummmm...nonexistent...so it's helpful for me anyway!! :rolleyes:

Oh well...I'll just keep visiting with ya'll!!!! :tiptoe:

(PS) I am going to steal your idea of putting a link to the cruise website in my siggie!! :)

[jdybnsn]

Hi :flower3:

Another one that jumped ship straight from the Dover- Barcelona cruise here. :goodvibes

There is a slim chance we might transfer to the May 28th 11 night Med, so I had been hanging back a little. It all hinges on whether DS has his school exams before, or after, the May break..... and I won't know for sure till the kids are back at school - most likely that they are after, so this is why we signed up for this one onboard.
Besides DH says he prefers these dates...so I may have a fight on my hands to switch anyway.:)

We are ;
Me - Judy
DH - Brian (who is a Welsh speaking Welshman)
DS - Joe 13 (14 next year)
DD - Vyrnwy 9 (10 next year )

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi Judy
Nice to have you here. Hope you can stay.
Suzanne

[K8T]

Hi

We are just off the Magic (10 night Med.) and booked this one on board. Myself, Otherhalf and Daughter (soon to be 6).

We really wanted to go in August again, but did the June Repo, Barcelona-Dover this year and 7 nights just aren't long enough!!! However if some good 2012 itineraries come out, we may just 'jump ship' :rotfl:

Anyone want to know about the stops, please ask, while they are still fresh in my mind!:)


Kate

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi K8T
Nice to have you aboard.
I'd love to hear what you did in La Spezia and Corsica. I've changed my mind so many times for La Spezia and am thinking that we might just wander in Corsica and spend the afternoon on the ship.
Suzanne

[K8T]

Hi K8T
Nice to have you aboard.
I'd love to hear what you did in La Spezia and Corsica. I've changed my mind so many times for La Spezia and am thinking that we might just wander in Corsica and spend the afternoon on the ship.
Suzanne

Hi Suzanne

La Spezia you have a couple of options, Pisa, Florence or Lucca.

We have been to Florence a number of times andPisa too, but thought Pisa would be more interesting for our dd. We got the train - very easy to do, there is quite a walk to the station (20mins), but you could also get the little white train that goes from where the tenders come in (5 euros) to the station in about the same time you can walk.

Florence is a change on the train and I personally didn't want to risk it, so would suggest doing the Florence on your own, so DCL take you there. It is a beautiful city and easy to walk around (although busy), with a good guide book.

Pisa you can walk through the town from the station (10 mins) via the shops which is interesting ;) Although there isn't a lot in Pisa, apart from the tower and the baptistry, a sort of church (do book your tickets beforehand, because they come in time slots and are limited). Lucca is a small medieval walled town, very pretty. We didn't do this, but someone else did Pisa and Lucca, which you could do if you are out early.

La Spezia is also a good shopping area and opens just as you are coming back, so worth allowing time to look around the shops.

Corsica is a lovely island, but you need to get out of Ajjaccio really to appreciate it. However, there is a good market (lots of fruit, veg, cheeses, wine and honey), just a stroll from the ship in the morning. There are a number of monuments to Napolean and some shopping areas which are interesting.

We did an open top bus ride along the coast, then back to the town late morning, when the shops shut for lunch, we walked to the little beach just out of town. There are some nicer beaches further along and you can get a bus No. 5 to these, which run there and back every 20 mins. Or a cab for 15 euros or so. Some of the beaches have pedalos, with little slides on them. The water is so clear and ideal for snorkeling.

To be honest, after so many busy stops, it was great to just chill out a bit.

Europe really is an easy place to navigate, we always do our own thing, either by cab or train and never have any problems.

Hope this helps.

Kate

[clarasunnyside]

Hi

We are just off the Magic (10 night Med.) and booked this one on board. Myself, Otherhalf and Daughter (soon to be 6).

We really wanted to go in August again, but did the June Repo, Barcelona-Dover this year and 7 nights just aren't long enough!!! However if some good 2012 itineraries come out, we may just 'jump ship' :rotfl:

Anyone want to know about the stops, please ask, while they are still fresh in my mind!:)


Kate

I know this is alot to ask for but I would love to hear a little about all the stops. popcorn::...

[clarasunnyside]

So we are heading to Disney on Tuesday......We are taking the auto train since my Sis cannot fly yet.....can I say EXCITED !!!. This will be our first experience with DVC, we are staying @ the wilderness lodge villas and Bay lake Towers which is our home base.

Thinking about getting T Shirts for the cruise...

ok I am babbling wishing everyone a great week and those going back to school .. wishing you a smooth first day :teacher:

[Willem]

Thanks for the warm welcome!
We're really looking forward to this cruise... Hope to find some info here, will read the previous pages first :)

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi Suzanne

La Spezia you have a couple of options, Pisa, Florence or Lucca.

We have been to Florence a number of times andPisa too, but thought Pisa would be more interesting for our dd. We got the train - very easy to do, there is quite a walk to the station (20mins), but you could also get the little white train that goes from where the tenders come in (5 euros) to the station in about the same time you can walk.

Florence is a change on the train and I personally didn't want to risk it, so would suggest doing the Florence on your own, so DCL take you there. It is a beautiful city and easy to walk around (although busy), with a good guide book.

Pisa you can walk through the town from the station (10 mins) via the shops which is interesting ;) Although there isn't a lot in Pisa, apart from the tower and the baptistry, a sort of church (do book your tickets beforehand, because they come in time slots and are limited). Lucca is a small medieval walled town, very pretty. We didn't do this, but someone else did Pisa and Lucca, which you could do if you are out early.

La Spezia is also a good shopping area and opens just as you are coming back, so worth allowing time to look around the shops.

Corsica is a lovely island, but you need to get out of Ajjaccio really to appreciate it. However, there is a good market (lots of fruit, veg, cheeses, wine and honey), just a stroll from the ship in the morning. There are a number of monuments to Napolean and some shopping areas which are interesting.

We did an open top bus ride along the coast, then back to the town late morning, when the shops shut for lunch, we walked to the little beach just out of town. There are some nicer beaches further along and you can get a bus No. 5 to these, which run there and back every 20 mins. Or a cab for 15 euros or so. Some of the beaches have pedalos, with little slides on them. The water is so clear and ideal for snorkeling.

To be honest, after so many busy stops, it was great to just chill out a bit.

Europe really is an easy place to navigate, we always do our own thing, either by cab or train and never have any problems.

Hope this helps.

Kate

Thanks Kate.
I'm glad to hear about the beaches in Ajjaccio. I think my kids will enjoy a bit of a beach break. I was really starting to wonder what we would do there. I didn't like the look of any of the tours.
La Spezia is the opposite. But we are planning time in Tuscany either side of the cruise. We would see Florence at this time. Our original thought was Cinque Terre, but 4 1/2 hours just doesn't seem enough so we thought we might spend couple of nights there. And we plan on flying into Pisa so thought we could see the main sights on that day. Mmmm, what dilemma to have. :laughing:

[PrincessBelle39]

So we are heading to Disney on Tuesday......We are taking the auto train since my Sis cannot fly yet.....can I say EXCITED !!!. This will be our first experience with DVC, we are staying @ the wilderness lodge villas and Bay lake Towers which is our home base.

Thinking about getting T Shirts for the cruise...

ok I am babbling wishing everyone a great week and those going back to school .. wishing you a smooth first day :teacher:

Have a great time Clara.

[Pixiedustdawn]

[SIZE="3"]Hi everyone. We are from Long Island N.Y. USA.

It will be myself and 13 year old daughter traveling with you. We have never been to Barcelona and are a bit nervous about traveling so far from home.

We are excited to see new places and to be sailing on the Magic.

I think I sailed with "Willem", in the Bahamas once before?

Dawn/SIZE]

[DLRPfan.be]

[SIZE="3"]Hi everyone. We are from Long Island N.Y. USA.

It will be myself and 13 year old daughter traveling with you. We have never been to Barcelona and are a bit nervous about traveling so far from home.

We are excited to see new places and to be sailing on the Magic.

I think I sailed with "Willem", in the Bahamas once before?

Dawn/SIZE]

Don't worry: Barcelona is a wonderful city! You have a bit of everything there: sea, culture, good "tapas" food, etc.. and for the rest: it's like in every big city: you have to be carefull when you are in large crowds for pick-pockets. But it stay's one off the most beautiful city's in the world!
And sailing with the Magic is great!

[Willem]

Hi there,

Indeed, we were on the Wonder together, it was the cruise where the hurricane came by :) Nice to see you'll be on this one too!

[SIZE="3"]Hi everyone. We are from Long Island N.Y. USA.

It will be myself and 13 year old daughter traveling with you. We have never been to Barcelona and are a bit nervous about traveling so far from home.

We are excited to see new places and to be sailing on the Magic.

I think I sailed with "Willem", in the Bahamas once before?

Dawn/SIZE]

[jdybnsn]

Don't worry: Barcelona is a wonderful city! You have a bit of everything there: sea, culture, good "tapas" food, etc.. and for the rest: it's like in every big city: you have to be carefull when you are in large crowds for pick-pockets. But it stay's one off the most beautiful city's in the world!
And sailing with the Magic is great!

Hey , nice to see you on here again :goodvibes......don't want to spoil it anything but we LOVED :lovestruc what you put in our FE on the Dover- Barcelona repo !!!!

[jdybnsn]

Just in case any one needs any inside information about the place, we are off to Malta in October (in about 7 weeks time) for a week - had this booked long time before we thought about doing the 10 night Med cruise.

It will be strange because we are staying in an apartment right in the middle of Valetta harbour, and be watching the cruise ships sail by from our balcony (though sadly not the Magic as she will be gone home by then) !

If anyone wants me to find out any specific information for them, regarding Malta, please let me know, and try and find out while I am there. :)

[K8T]

[SIZE="3"]Hi everyone. We are from Long Island N.Y. USA.

It will be myself and 13 year old daughter traveling with you. We have never been to Barcelona and are a bit nervous about traveling so far from home.

We are excited to see new places and to be sailing on the Magic.

I think I sailed with "Willem", in the Bahamas once before?

Dawn/SIZE]

Hi, you will love Barcelona and Europe, all the stops are touristy, so you shouldn't have any problems, as with any other busy places, there is always a risk of pickpockets and theft, but it really is no more than any other big city. If you go into New York City, I think you can cope with Europe!!! What a great experience for you both.

Just in case any one needs any inside information about the place, we are off to Malta in October (in about 7 weeks time) for a week - had this booked long time before we thought about doing the 10 night Med cruise.

It will be strange because we are staying in an apartment right in the middle of Valetta harbour, and be watching the cruise ships sail by from our balcony (though sadly not the Magic as she will be gone home by then) !

If anyone wants me to find out any specific information for them, regarding Malta, please let me know, and try and find out while I am there. :)

We did Malta on our own - the taxis were very organised, went to the Blue Grotto first, which was amazing, the sea is to die for, you just want to jump in!!! Apparently the Schooner trip organised by Disney was excellent and I think we will do this next time, diving off a boat into crystal clear water just appeals to me:thumbsup2

We also went to Mdina, which reminded me a lot of Jerusalem, but we just didn't have enough time to do it justice. The main town of Valetta is also great for shopping. Definately a place to go back to, lucky you having 7 days, you will be able to go right over the Island, are you hiring a car?

Kate

[jdybnsn]

We did Malta on our own - the taxis were very organised, went to the Blue Grotto first, which was amazing, the sea is to die for, you just want to jump in!!! Apparently the Schooner trip organised by Disney was excellent and I think we will do this next time, diving off a boat into crystal clear water just appeals to me:thumbsup2

We also went to Mdina, which reminded me a lot of Jerusalem, but we just didn't have enough time to do it justice. The main town of Valetta is also great for shopping. Definately a place to go back to, lucky you having 7 days, you will be able to go right over the Island, are you hiring a car?

Kate

Hi Kate
Yes we are hiring a car..... so hope to get around, and about, all over the island.
I'll look into the Schooner trip while we are there - it sounds good !:thumbsup2

[helenreed]

Hi Everyone!
Nice to see the new additions, I was wondering if anyone could answer me a question please; what currency is used aboard ship, dollars or euros? The answer will make a big difference to us! Many thanks.

[scottishwee35]

Hi Everyone!
Nice to see the new additions, I was wondering if anyone could answer me a question please; what currency is used aboard ship, dollars or euros? The answer will make a big difference to us! Many thanks.

euros for europe and dollars for on the cruise for tips, room services tips ....

Scottishwee35

[helenreed]

euros for europe and dollars for on the cruise for tips, room services tips ....

Scottishwee35

thank you!:)

[Keever]

Welcome to all the new Explorers! Willem, jdybnsn, K8t and Pixiedustdawn - welcome aboard!

I'm going to add you to the Explorers list on our website. Anyone wish to join the fish extenders???

Wow! The momentum is building as new people come aboard!

Welcome, welcome, welcome - or should I say "ahoy!"

:yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay: :yay::yay::yay:

[Pixiedustdawn]

Thanks for the welcome and comforting words about traveling far from home.

I was on the Wonder when we had to dock in Port Everglades instead of Port Canaveral, because of the storm. We were eating breakfast at 4 in the morning. lol

I am doing a back to back on this ship. I am going to start looking for airfare and hotels in another month or so.

Can't wait to meet everyone!!

Dawn

[amandamc8]

Welcome to all the new Explorers! Willem, jdybnsn, K8t and Pixiedustdawn - welcome aboard!

I'm going to add you to the Explorers list on our website. Anyone wish to join the fish extenders???

Wow! The momentum is building as new people come aboard!

Welcome, welcome, welcome - or should I say "ahoy!"

:yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay::yay: :yay::yay::yay:

Hi Keever,

Not sure yet if we will join in with the fish extenders, but we'd love to be added to the list of explorers on your website! There will be me (Amanda) and my 17 year old DD Hayley.

Really excited about it already! :banana:

[Keever]

Ahoy Amanda and Hayley! Welcome aboard!!!!

I've added you to the Explorers list.

:):):):):):):):):):):):):)

[K8T]

Hi Keever

Thanks for the welcome.

Please add us to the FE List. We have done them twice now and my dd loved it, she was so excited to get up in the morning and check it!

We are:

Kate
Michael
Charlotte (6)

Kate

[PrincessBelle39]

For those of you heading back to the USA following the cruise, are you leaving the day the cruise ends or staying on in Europe? We want to go to Orlando and I'm not sure if we can get out on the day the cruise ends or if we will have to overnight. Our dates have changed slightly and it looks like we will have to do our Europe portion before the cruise now.

[K8T]

Wow!!! This is some journey, Australia to Europe to the US!!!.

I can't comment on the flights to the States, but we were off the ship this time by 8.30am. Some people were off earlier.

I believe the DCL say not to book a flight before 12.00, however, we knew some people from the UK who DCL had booked on a slightly earlier flight.

If you can get something that afternoon, or evening, I am sure you would be fine, although I think I remember a few people on our Cruise Meet Thread, who said that they couldn't get a flight out until the next day, although that may have been because they were going through Disney.

Kate

By the way, how do you manage the Jet Lag, if you go straight to Orlando?!!!!

[madmum63]

Just want to say hello. We will be joining you in 2011 having just left this fab cruise yesterday :laundy: :sad1: Please count us in for a Meet and the FE. Looking forward to meeting more new friends. :cheer2:

[K8T]

Just want to say hello. We will be joining you in 2011 having just left this fab cruise yesterday :laundy: :sad1: Please count us in for a Meet and the FE. Looking forward to meeting more new friends. :cheer2:

Hi

We are from the North West too! Must be something about the water up there, on our last cruise meet thread there was Vicky, who lived about half an hour or so away!

We are located between Manchester and Liverpool, where are you?

Kate

[madmum63]

Hi

We are from the North West too! Must be something about the water up there, on our last cruise meet thread there was Vicky, who lived about half an hour or so away!

We are located between Manchester and Liverpool, where are you?

Kate

Hello Kate. We live in Poulton-le-Fylde (just outside Blackpool) DS travels to Liverpool twice a week for Dancing (ballroom and Latin) and DD travels to Manchester twice a week for the Halle Choir and Drama. DS also goes to Bournemouth, Southampton and Birmingham every week and DD Ice Skates as well :scared1:we must be mad:scared1: Andrea

[helenreed]

Hello Kate. We live in Poulton-le-Fylde (just outside Blackpool) DS travels to Liverpool twice a week for Dancing (ballroom and Latin) and DD travels to Manchester twice a week for the Halle Choir and Drama. DS also goes to Bournemouth, Southampton and Birmingham every week and DD Ice Skates as well :scared1:we must be mad:scared1: Andrea

We have friends in Poulton-le-Fylde!! Don't suppose you know anyone called McKnight???:yay:

[madmum63]

We have friends in Poulton-le-Fylde!! Don't suppose you know anyone called McKnight???:yay:

Hello Helen

Sorry we don't, though it is a small village. Our children don't go to school in Poulton, they go to Kirkham. I think you tend to get to know more people if you are at a local school. Thanks for asking though. Looking forward to meeting everyone, the cruise last week was so quiet. Pleasant but quiet.

[K8T]

Hello Kate. We live in Poulton-le-Fylde (just outside Blackpool) DS travels to Liverpool twice a week for Dancing (ballroom and Latin) and DD travels to Manchester twice a week for the Halle Choir and Drama. DS also goes to Bournemouth, Southampton and Birmingham every week and DD Ice Skates as well :scared1:we must be mad:scared1: Andrea

Andrea, it sounds like a very busy schedule, I have enough problems getting DD to Tennis on a Saturday morning in Wigan and Swimming on a Sunday in Ormskirk!!!! She has now asked to go horseriding :scared1: When we are supposed to do that I don't know - I think that is one for the summer.;)

Your son must be very talented to be doing all these lessons and dancing - how wonderful, I think it it fantastic for them to do something they enjoy and are good at. DD started skiing in 2009 when she four and took to it like a duck to water - we go now and again to The Chillfactore and will be upping the time there this winter, as we have just booked skiing in Austria for April.

Does your daughter go to Blackpool skating? I lived in Southampton for many years and used to ice skate there - in fact OH's Aunt was a professional skater back in the 1950's, she just missed out on the Olympics, because she went professional (she needed the money!!). We often go to see the shows, in fact Disney on Ice is coming in October and I am wondering whether to go to that - now that would be a good job, skating all over the world.

Has anyone booked hotels yet? We have stayed in the Novotel City twice and it is pretty good, they have an offer at the moment Room £80 for us all, including breakfast - although we were thinking of going out the morning of:eek: We wouldn't risk it in June and went two days before, because of the Ash Cloud, but went just the day before in August. Not sure I can cope with the stress of going the same day, but DD doesn't break up from school until the 22nd and I am feeling guilty for pulling her out!:guilty:

Kate

[madmum63]

Hello Kate

DD does go to Blackpool at least 4 times a week. DS was 8th in the world in Latin, 14th in Ballroom but has a new partner and they are doing their 1st comp in Portsmouth this weekend. Our kids love Chillfactor. We can't go too often due to receiving any dance injuries (DS has trick skiis and knows how to use them to the full:scared1:) Both did horse riding and gave up. They started early spring did the summer, winter and then the following summer but decided they didn't want to do another winter :worship: Thank the lord for our English weather. I had to sit for hours as they both had private lessons following each other and the smell where they allowed parents to watch :eek: :headache:

We enjoyed 2 nights at the colon on the square at the Gaudi cathedral a street away from Las Ramblas. It was really quiet in the room,:cloud9: no trouble in the area and fab Tapas Bars all around. We are doing the same again for this one. We are lucky as our two both break up the first week in July and return around the 8th September hence just returning from the med on the 8th. :banana: The hotel was two mins away from everywhere including the Vuitton and Gucci shopping area and associated restaurants. We weren't too impressed with Las Ramblas, happy to have been but probably won't return. Food not fantastic but very expensive. We will without doubt go to the restaurant area that we found on the second night, which was just up the road from El Corte Ingles (where incidentally we bought our wine and champagne from to take on board) :thumbsup2

Looking forward to planning our excursions as we will be doing everything on our own this time. (we paid 900 dollars for 2A and 2C to go to Rome). We enjoyed it but know we can do the whole 10 days worth of excursions for not much more. Ah well only 10 months to wait:rotfl2: Andrea x

[helenreed]

We have booked Diagonal Zero for the night before the cruise as it has a great rooftop pool but we are looking to book somewhere more central for 3 nights at the end but it is so difficult trying to find anywhere that does family rooms for 5. We have looked at the Hispanos Suizas but still not sure.

[helenreed]

P.S. Does anyone know when Easyjet will release their summer flights, I am checking every day but it is getting monotonous!:dance3:

[jdybnsn]

We have booked Diagonal Zero for the night before the cruise as it has a great rooftop pool but we are looking to book somewhere more central for 3 nights at the end but it is so difficult trying to find anywhere that does family rooms for 5. We have looked at the Hispanos Suizas but still not sure.

When we stayed in Barcelona after our last Disney cruise we rented an apartment from this agency as they will take 3 night rentals - (they specialise in high quality rentals - but are still very reasonably priced compared to central hotel rates, and what you get for your money) ...it worked out so much better than a hotel as we could do our own laundry and meals ;

http://www.habitatapartments.com/en

I'm not sure they have all their apartments listed on there for next year yet though - could be worth checking this out with them before deciding to book !

NB..it may be worth taking a rental for three night, even if you only actually need it for two nights, if you are a large group. Incidentally, many apartments have 2 bathrooms.......big tip though - do make sure yours has both air conditioning, and a lift (sorry, "elevator" for our american friends !) - essential !!!!

We treated ourselves to this one because of the fabulous view of the Sagrada Familia from the balcony -

http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/barcelona/apartment/view/tessa.htm

Unfortunately, next trip we will be flying straight home . :guilty:

[helenreed]

When we stayed in Barcelona after our last Disney cruise we rented an apartment from this agency as they will take 3 night rentals - (they specialise in high quality rentals - but are still very reasonably priced compared to central hotel rates, and what you get for your money) ...it worked out so much better than a hotel as we could do our own laundry and meals ;

http://www.habitatapartments.com/en

I'm not sure they have all their apartments listed on there for next year yet though - could be worth checking this out with them before deciding to book !

NB..it may be worth taking a rental for three night, even if you only actually need it for two nights, if you are a large group. Incidentally, many apartments have 2 bathrooms.......big tip though - do make sure yours has both air conditioning, and a lift (sorry, "elevator" for our american friends !) - essential !!!!

We treated ourselves to this one because of the fabulous view of the Sagrada Familia from the balcony -

http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/barcelona/apartment/view/tessa.htm

Unfortunately, next trip we will be flying straight home . :guilty:

That apartment looks absolutely perfect, think we will book it! Thanks so much for the tip!
Andrea, are you going to do a trip report for the cruise you have just left? I would be very interested to read it! I am getting a little freaked out by the thought of the excursions! I had thought we might attempt some on our own but thought we would use DCL for Italy as it just looks so complicated, particularly Rome and I liked the sound of the priivate train! But for a family of 5 it could end up costing a fortune, I really want to see the Sistine Chapel and my DS wants to do Pompei but all the trips there sound a bit naff with lots of coach travel which I do not want to do. Any tips would be gratefully recieved!!

[jdybnsn]

Hello Kate

DD does go to Blackpool at least 4 times a week. DS was 8th in the world in Latin, 14th in Ballroom but has a new partner and they are doing their 1st comp in Portsmouth this weekend. Our kids love Chillfactor. We can't go too often due to receiving any dance injuries (DS has trick skiis and knows how to use them to the full:scared1:) x

Sorry to digress from the cruise, but do you know the Pritchard family ? - Adrian Pritchard is a dance coach to competition level, former UK champion and a national competion judge, and his DS's are/were (?) both UK dance champions at the 13, 14 year level ?
The parents are friends of mine, and are just up the road in the next village. I don't dance myself - his wife Debbie runs keep fit classes which I attend.

[jdybnsn]

That apartment looks absolutely perfect, think we will book it! Thanks so much for the tip!



Glad to help ! ...that one is expensive (though we were lucky enough to be two families to share the cost), but very nice ...and very convenient location !! - there's a metro stop opposite and La Ramblas is a short walk.
Note though the terrace is actually a balcony - we were expecting a roof terrace from the description - however, the view across the roof tops was a great feature. :goodvibes

[madmum63]

Sorry to digress from the cruise, but do you know the Pritchard family ? - Adrian Pritchard is a dance coach to competition level, former UK champion and a national competion judge, and his DS's are/were (?) both UK dance champions at the 13, 14 year level ?
The parents are friends of mine, and are just up the road in the next village. I don't dance myself - his wife Debbie runs keep fit classes which I attend.

We know them well. They both have lessons with our teachers. AJ is one of the top ranking in his level and Curt is catching up quick. Curt has had problems like we have in getting the right partner (Height, commitment and ability etc) But they both have great partners now and are doing really well. DS is starting in at the bottom again with his new partner but they show promise and I think by Youth they will get there. The Pritchards are a lovely family and we are looking forward to seeing them tomorrow in Portsmouth as it is a ranked comp. Small world. Andrea

[jdybnsn]

We know them well. They both have lessons with our teachers. AJ is one of the top ranking in his level and Curt is catching up quick. Curt has had problems like we have in getting the right partner (Height, commitment and ability etc) But they both have great partners now and are doing really well. DS is starting in at the bottom again with his new partner but they show promise and I think by Youth they will get there. The Pritchards are a lovely family and we are looking forward to seeing them tomorrow in Portsmouth as it is a ranked comp. Small world. Andrea

LOL !!! Small World indeed !

Their kids go to the same secondary school as my DS (the years above & below though).
..if you see Debbie tomorrow, tell her yes, really I am going to come back to her keep fit classes again HONEST !! ...I just need to shift a bit of weight since the last Disney cruise first !:rolleyes1
Perhaps you can persuade them to join us on the cruise ? Adrian is a hoot !

...I am their unofficial local travel agent .....& official newsagent - supplier of The Dance News (Judy from Audlem ) !:goodvibes

[helenreed]

Glad to help ! ...that one is expensive (though we were lucky enough to be two families to share the cost), but very nice ...and very convenient location !! - there's a metro stop opposite and La Ramblas is a short walk.
Note though the terrace is actually a balcony - we were expecting a roof terrace from the description - however, the view across the roof tops was a great feature. :goodvibes

Apartment booked! Thank you so much for your recommendation:yay:

[jdybnsn]

Apartment booked! Thank you so much for your recommendation:yay:

Great !! you will love it ! Free Wifi was a bonus too ;)

...if you have any specific questions about the apartment, please feel free to ask !

[K8T]

P.S. Does anyone know when Easyjet will release their summer flights, I am checking every day but it is getting monotonous!:dance3:

I am afraid I don't know this, but Monarch's are out there, I have held off booking until EasyJets are out, although we booked Monarch the last few times, I just want to check the difference (not much before!). Are you flying same day?

That apartment looks absolutely perfect, think we will book it! Thanks so much for the tip!
Andrea, are you going to do a trip report for the cruise you have just left? I would be very interested to read it! I am getting a little freaked out by the thought of the excursions! I had thought we might attempt some on our own but thought we would use DCL for Italy as it just looks so complicated, particularly Rome and I liked the sound of the priivate train! But for a family of 5 it could end up costing a fortune, I really want to see the Sistine Chapel and my DS wants to do Pompei but all the trips there sound a bit naff with lots of coach travel which I do not want to do. Any tips would be gratefully recieved!!


These look fantastic. We spent three days in Barcelona before the June cruise and wish I had known about them, the price for three of us was very reasonable.

As regards the ports, you really can do all of them on your own. We have done Rome numerous times now off cruise ships, by catching the train and never once had a problem.

The train station is five minutes from where the shuttle bus drops you off - trains wvery 20 minutes or so, direct into Rome. Loads of people off the ships do it, so there is 'safety in numbers!' The comforting thing about DCL is that they leave late from the ports, so you are not rushing. Prebook the Sistine Chapel, it saves the queues and if you get out at the San Pietro stop (one of the first into Rome), then it is literally a five minute walk down the road to it.

We did the Colliseum as our main thing this time and prebooked those tickets too, which was such a good move, just waltzed past the queues and straight in.

The only one that may be difficult on the train is if you want to do Florence, as everything we looked at was a bit more involved with changing trains. We went to Pisa this time, but next time may go to Lucca, as we have been to Florence a number of times now and it probably wouldn't interest DD just yet!

Otherwise, there are plenty of taxis and I noticed people carriers at the ports. We always look at what it would cost us to do the DCL trip and if we come out cheaper for a cab, we are happy, although of course you don't get the Tour Guide, which for us is OK, as DD would be figiting anyway and we sometimes want to move on from the group .

Kate

[jdybnsn]

I heard a rumour that Ryanair might be looking to fly into BCN next year, instead of nearby Girona and Reuss...so that could be interesting.:rolleyes:

Though, I must add, I'm very wary of booking Ryanair too far in advance given their habit of chopping routes that don't sell well - even some time after people have been booking them !:mad:

[Anal Annie]

:surfweb: Glad I am still lurking over here from time to time!! "Tessa" looks like a great place & a fantastic snag!!!! :thumbsup2 I had almost forgotten about the apartment rental idea! I had actually saved a link that Andrew Derek UK (remember him?) posted a long time ago for another property rental company. I'll go ahead & share it here too just in case ya'll want a 2nd property rental site to look at...

http://www.enjoybcn.com/en/catalogo/listado_4.html

Guess I'll add both sites to the hotel page on my website one of these days...

I sorta like the apartment idea but I do have a couple of reservations (questions) about doing that instead of a regular hotel. Obviously it makes more sense for either a long-term stay or for a larger family (we're only 3) but the idea IS intriguing. My concerns are about how to best go about obtaining a small bit of groceries / supplies - mainly for breakfasts (pastries or something)...coffee & filters...and stuff for doing a load or two of laundry - do you bring coffee, filters & laundry soap from home or buy a regular supply somewhere in Barcelona that you then end up wasting??:confused3 And how does one go about finding a store there to purchase these items?? Just thinking out loud to myself about that one... Anybody??:rolleyes1

[helenreed]

:surfweb: Glad I am still lurking over here from time to time!! "Tessa" looks like a great place & a fantastic snag!!!! :thumbsup2 I had almost forgotten about the apartment rental idea! I had actually saved a link that Andrew Derek UK (remember him?) posted a long time ago for another property rental company. I'll go ahead & share it here too just in case ya'll want a 2nd property rental site to look at...

http://www.enjoybcn.com/en/catalogo/listado_4.html

Guess I'll add both sites to the hotel page on my website one of these days...

I sorta like the apartment idea but I do have a couple of reservations (questions) about doing that instead of a regular hotel. Obviously it makes more sense for either a long-term stay or for a larger family (we're only 3) but the idea IS intriguing. My concerns are about how to best go about obtaining a small bit of groceries / supplies - mainly for breakfasts (pastries or something)...coffee & filters...and stuff for doing a load or two of laundry - do you bring coffee, filters & laundry soap from home or buy a regular supply somewhere in Barcelona that you then end up wasting??:confused3 And how does one go about finding a store there to purchase these items?? Just thinking out loud to myself about that one... Anybody??:rolleyes1

Hi Annie,

I can answer your questions, I have absolutely no intention of making any meals on holiday, we will eat out! The laundry can wait too!:rolleyes1

[madmum63]

Hello Annie,

I'm with Helen. No washing or cooking for us. Hotel way is for us and eat out in the evenings. :woohoo: There is a real nice area with some fab restaurants just up from the main El Corte Ingles by the Huge fountain. When we have finished unpacking our "odd item case" I will post the road name as we have the tour bus routes and it goes down the said restaurant road. If you don't want to eat out though, El Corte Ingles has a fab (very international) food department in the basement they have everything you need from convenience foods to totally fresh produce. Oh and did I mention the alcohol too :lmao: Good luck and enjoy your cruise. Andrea x

[jdybnsn]

:surfweb: Glad I am still lurking over here from time to time!! "Tessa" looks like a great place & a fantastic snag!!!! :thumbsup2 I had almost forgotten about the apartment rental idea! I had actually saved a link that Andrew Derek UK (remember him?) posted a long time ago for another property rental company. I'll go ahead & share it here too just in case ya'll want a 2nd property rental site to look at...

http://www.enjoybcn.com/en/catalogo/listado_4.html

Guess I'll add both sites to the hotel page on my website one of these days...

I sorta like the apartment idea but I do have a couple of reservations (questions) about doing that instead of a regular hotel. Obviously it makes more sense for either a long-term stay or for a larger family (we're only 3) but the idea IS intriguing. My concerns are about how to best go about obtaining a small bit of groceries / supplies - mainly for breakfasts (pastries or something)...coffee & filters...and stuff for doing a load or two of laundry - do you bring coffee, filters & laundry soap from home or buy a regular supply somewhere in Barcelona that you then end up wasting??:confused3 And how does one go about finding a store there to purchase these items?? Just thinking out loud to myself about that one... Anybody??:rolleyes1

Hi :flower3:...its really nice of you to drop by !:goodvibes

Don't worry about the grocery shopping - there's lots of great little bakeries around the central city residential areas, where the apartments are located .....and mini supermarkets are not hard to find within a few blocks of most apartments (the nearest good sized mini supermarket to the "Tessa" apartment was five minutes walk for example, and there were several bakeries even closer.
The rental agency is usually very helpful in supplying this kind of information.

As for laundry powder - we always take 2 in 1 (conditioner & soap combined) in tablet form, which are individually wrapped (not sure if you can get these in the US ?) ...so its just a matter of guessing what you will use both on board and at the apartment (I tend to allow for a wash every 3 days and then a couple for luck !). Other than that buy the local stuff - pack sizes are really not that big in Europe (infact some liquid gel packs are not much bigger than a half dozen egg box to give you an idea of scale !), nor is it overly expensive - you could always donate any left to the next guests !
You could bring filters for coffee since they weigh practically nothing, but cafeterias are also fairly common useage, so you may or may not use them (we did have a coffee machine at Tessa though). One thing for sure, while the Brits. may like their tea !, the mainland Europeans much prefer fresh coffee so, you should have no problems locating local coffee making supplies. :)

Hope this helps with the thinking process - would definitely recommend rentals because you can relax so much more than in a hotel room, with more space and more facilities at your disposal. You don't need to keep eating out (expensive in cities) and you can save on the amount of luggage you need to bring (since you have the washing facilities).... and even the shopping experience helps you to see a bit more of a countries' culture than you normally would !!:goodvibes

[Anal Annie]

Thanks guys...I am still undecided what we'll do. I am down to 11 months TODAY for our cruise :banana: so there is time to plan yet. I have a handful of hotels on my short list that could accomodate 3 ppl per room (Novotel, EuroPark and Hotel Espana to name a few). Advantages to a hotel would be that we'd most likely book one with a pool and there would be a restaurant on site for breakfasts (I need my coffee & a bite to eat in the mornings)!! That is perhaps the biggest drawback to an apartment for me - having something right there to grab real quick in the mornings. I also do not plan to COOK on vacation but making a pot of coffee & eating a pastry isn't really cooking.:goodvibes I could bring filters & a bit of coffee from home & find one of those bakeries. I also RARELY if ever do laundry on vaca either - but thought if we're in an apartment with a washer/dryer it might be good to do 1 or 2 quick loads.:rolleyes2 But most likely I wouldn't.:sad2: But might.::yes:: :rotfl: No, we do not have these all-in-one laundry tablets here...I have heard of some all-in-one laundry sheets that some bring but I've heard mixed reviews about just how good they really are.:confused3

I am hoping to find a store pre-cruise near wherever we stay where we can pick up some beer for DH to bring on the ship. I might bring some wine with us from home (there is a Shiraz that I get here in the US in a box that is quite good so it would travel well) and I am a Captain Morgan gal (spiced rum). THAT I would bring in a plastic bottle - maybe an empty water bottle. I am not going to pack glass for international travel though!! Bringing wine & some Captain will all depend on how efficiently I can pack & if we have room (weight wise).

My cruise is still going sl-o-o-o-o-w and I am not really picking up any new peeps. It is defnitely not going to be :crowded: too crowded. I had one new guy pop in last week who booked & another guy who's THINKING about booking but the airfare expense is holding him off. Two of the orig. peeps either dropped off DCL completely or jumped to cheaper cruises and the other 2 gals haven't been around at all for several weeks so I fear they've "jumped ship" on me too. I guess I have scared 'em all off.:headache:

[jdybnsn]

I am hoping to find a store pre-cruise near wherever we stay where we can pick up some beer for DH to bring on the ship. I might bring some wine with us from home (there is a Shiraz that I get here in the US in a box that is quite good so it would travel well) and I am a Captain Morgan gal (spiced rum).
.

I think you will find the wine a fair bit cheaper in Europe - I am always surprised at the price of wine in the US ....even your 'local' stuff. In Florida at least, I've found it was generally more expensive than the UK ...and in the UK wine is dearer than most parts of Europe.:headache:



No need to feel lonely on your thread :flower3:...you can always come & chat here :goodvibes.....we mostly have the same questions, thoughts and ideas in any case !

[K8T]

Annie

I think on another post, I said I may be booking on your cruise!!! - Sorry, when it came down to it, we prefer the longer time!!

Just for info. If you do stay at the Novotel, over the road is shopping Mall with some restaurants and also a large Carrefour Supermarket with all sorts of wines - some already in plastic bottles!!!!!!:rotfl: Seriously though, there is also a great specialist wine shop nearby, which has a very well informed owner and we got some great wines on our June cruise - However, on our August cruise he was shut:eek: Unfotunately the wines on board were not paticularly good, but we managed!!!;)

Kate

[Keever]

:dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3:
:dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3:


300 Days until we cruise!


:dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3::dance3:

[clarasunnyside]

Have a great time Clara.

Thanks. We actually had a great time..Now trying to figure things out for this cruise.

[K8T]

Just thought I would post to say Hi!!!

Saw the thread was disappearing into oblivion and needed reviving.

Thinking about booking the flights soon with Monarch, I have been watching the prices, but there is no change since August.

Hope everyone is well.

Kate

[clarasunnyside]

Just thought I would post to say Hi!!!

Saw the thread was disappearing into oblivion and needed reviving.

Thinking about booking the flights soon with Monarch, I have been watching the prices, but there is no change since August.

Hope everyone is well.

Kate

Hi kate so funny that you mention airline Tickets..My TA just booked ours through Disney, they were actually cheaper than going directly through Delta, Continental or American Airlines. So we went with them..

[madmum63]

Just thought I would post to say Hi!!!

Saw the thread was disappearing into oblivion and needed reviving.

Thinking about booking the flights soon with Monarch, I have been watching the prices, but there is no change since August.

Hope everyone is well.

Kate

Hello Kate

We booked our flights with Monarch a couple of weeks ago. At least they fly direct and the flight times are the same as this year and we made it off the Magic in plenty of time for the flight without any panic.

We were looking for another company to compare with but knowing our luck we would wait and then miss the Monarch flight.

[jdybnsn]

Hi everybody .

Heads up for anyone in the UK waiting for Easyjet flights to be released - the Liverpool - Barcelona route is out now :thumbsup2...... hopefully the others are sure to follow soon too :goodvibes

......looks like we are committed to this cruise now as we booked our flights today :banana:

For 2 adults / 2 children ...and oh yes, and 2 bags, we paid just under £300 in total ( flying in and out the day of the cruise arrival/ departure).

Flight times are good from Liverpool dept 07.00am and arriving Barcelona 10.20am.
Departure time on the way home from BCN not till after 21.00... but rather that than rushing from the port.

[DLRPfan.be]

no flights yet from Belgium to Barcelona....
We just don't know already when we're gonna leave home towards Barcelona, we'll come back home the same day as we arrive back in Barcelona. It will be the 3th. time we arrive in Barcelona with the Magic, but it's still a long time now 't ill we reach that day, I'd rather don't think about it !

[helenreed]

Hi everybody .

Heads up for anyone in the UK waiting for Easyjet flights to be released - the Liverpool - Barcelona route is out now :thumbsup2...... hopefully the others are sure to follow soon too :goodvibes

......looks like we are committed to this cruise now as we booked our flights today :banana:

For 2 adults / 2 children ...and oh yes, and 2 bags, we paid just under £300 in total ( flying in and out the day of the cruise arrival/ departure).

Flight times are good from Liverpool dept 07.00am and arriving Barcelona 10.20am.
Departure time on the way home from BCN not till after 21.00... but rather that than rushing from the port.

Crikey! I have paid over £500 for 2 adutls, 3 kids and 4 bags from Newcastle and they have stopped flying everyday so we have had to extend our trip by a day either end too!

[Willem]

We booked our flights from Brussels to Barcelona for only 80€/person with Brussels Airlines. :) Booking early is much cheaper!

[helenreed]

We booked our flights from Brussels to Barcelona for only 80€/person with Brussels Airlines. :) Booking early is much cheaper!

I booked them the day they came out!!!

[DLRPfan.be]

We booked our flights from Brussels to Barcelona for only 80€/person with Brussels Airlines. :) Booking early is much cheaper!

Wow, thanks for the tip, I must really get starting to take a look now, thanks!:thumbsup2

[wide awake]

I am behind ! We booked on our 9/16 Wonder cruise, the flights from CA to Barcelona are horrible right now...I will wait before I book. Anyway, hello to all of you. We have connecting 10s, me and DH, and my 20 year old autistic son and my mother. It should be an interesting trip. Anyone on here that did the first EB Panama repo ? We were there too.

[Meg'n'walt]

We booked our flights from Brussels to Barcelona for only 80€/person with Brussels Airlines. :) Booking early is much cheaper!

wow, already ?? Do you have access to the july 2011 dates now ? Last time I checked it only went until november 2010 ?:confused3

[Willem]

wow, already ?? Do you have access to the july 2011 dates now ? Last time I checked it only went until november 2010 ?:confused3

We used brusselsairlines.com, it says you can book 340 days in advance. Just have to be happy with early or late flights if you want the cheap rates...

[Keever]

We're watching prices, hoping for a drop. Currently we're looking at $1300 Cdn EACH. Sometimes there is a seat sale?!!!!!

[Keever]

Welcome wide awake!

May I add you, DH, DS and DM to our website? Would you like to join our fish extender?:)

[madmum63]

Welcome wide awake!

May I add you, DH, DS and DM to our website? Would you like to join our fish extender?:)

Hello there,

I have just been on your website :surfweb: (how organised) :thumbsup2 I noticed that you have personalised details for the families and would like to give ours for the site if that is ok. :flower3: We are on late dining and we are celebrating our DS 14th birthday pirate: and our 16th wedding anniversary :hug: DD princess: is upset as she is having to wait for the Dream for her birthday celebration.

Thank you. :grouphug: I don't know what we would do without the forum. It keeps you in the holiday spirit. :laundy:

[jdybnsn]

Welcome wide awake!

May I add you, DH, DS and DM to our website? Would you like to join our fish extender?:)

Please could you add us to the FE list,... and also details of our cabin numbers 7620 and 7621, to your general list plus the fact we are late dining. :goodvibes

Also is anyone interested in doing a ladies lunch, on a sea day, with a ($10 -ish) gift exchange game ? :confused3

[DLRPfan.be]

Just received a wonderful booklet with lot's off information about our next Mediterranean Vacation.
There are some new ports of call for us, and they look great! :cool1:

[Willem]

Got it too, makes us want to go even more :)

[jdybnsn]

Same here :cool1:

[madmum63]

Just received a wonderful booklet with lot's off information about our next Mediterranean Vacation.
There are some new ports of call for us, and they look great! :cool1:

I was just about to throw my teddy out of the cot:headache: thinking that as usual in the U.K. we don't get all of the mail. But as I read lower I see some fellow Brits have the booklet too. :thumbsup2 Maybe I will have a walk down the drive in the mornng and empty the mailbox :rolleyes1:rolleyes1

Then I may throw fluffy overboard but for now I will have to wait until morning.:sad1:

Ladies lunch sounds great, what a good idea:flower3:

Andrea

[K8T]

Hi all

We got our little booklet too, but it had got all wet and soggy in the post box!! (I really have to do something about that!).

Been checking out flights, other half not keen on Easy Jet, although with the bags - we need three, I refuse to go with less than one bag each, I don't think it will be much cheaper, so looks like Monarch. We are not brave enough to go the same day, which would be better for dd as she is going to miss school for a few days the last day of term.

I am just contemplating upgrading our room. We booked a gty12, but not sure I can live without a porthole, even the two little ones would be good, so whether the £400 extra for a Cat9 is worth it - I think so. May just do it without telling OH, he won't notice anyway!!

Hope everyone is well. Like the idea of a ladies lunch, maybe us in the North West UK could meet up for lunch before we leave, somewhere central to everyone? or is that too forward of me?!:rotfl:

Kate

[jdybnsn]

Hi all

ope everyone is well. Like the idea of a ladies lunch, maybe us in the North West UK could meet up for lunch before we leave, somewhere central to everyone? or is that too forward of me?!:rotfl:

Kate

That sounds like a really nice idea, if we can figure out somewhere central & accessible ? Maybe a bit early to put a date on it yet, but initially, how does somewhere in the Trafford Centre in Manchester sound ?

[K8T]

Great!

I am within easy reach of the M6, Haydock junction, so really easy for me, a nice lunch in the 'posh' bit of the Trafford Centre would do me!

Checked Easy Jet against Monarch - difference is £100, so more than I thought, although don't like the idea of 21.00 flight on the Saturday, I do like the idea of a 17.00 flight on the Tuesday to get out.

Decisions, decisions!

Kate

[jdybnsn]

Great!
although don't like the idea of 21.00 flight on the Saturday,
Decisions, decisions!

Kate

Wondering if there is enough of us "hanging around" Barcelona for that day if we can organise our own tour that will drop us off at the airport around 6pm ?

This was done on the Dover -Barcelona cruise by a group of people and it worked extremely well.

Wouldn't mind fitting in a little trip to Sitges and/or Monseratt if anyone else is interested ??:confused3

[K8T]

OH and I were just discussing this and what we would do all day. Problem is the bags and having them with us if we went off around Barcelona.

We did contemplate taking them to the airport, but then you have the 30euros there and back, or paying for a day room in a hotel, but again that has a cost implication.

I suppose a trip would do the job, as the cases could stay on the bus, although I am not sure whether, having arrived back I will just feel like I want to get on home!!!

Oh no, more decisions!!!!!

We have changed our room to a Cat 9c - Unfortunately it won't be on a gty basis, so I have spent all evening, going through the Dis boards for reviews and steamer trunk rooms!!! Got it down to five rooms on Deck 2, so fingers crossed they are not all taken!

I think we are all happier that we will have a room with a view now!

Kate

[jdybnsn]

OH and I were just discussing this and what we would do all day. Problem is the bags and having them with us if we went off around Barcelona.

We did contemplate taking them to the airport, but then you have the 30euros there and back, or paying for a day room in a hotel, but again that has a cost implication.

I suppose a trip would do the job, as the cases could stay on the bus, although I am not sure whether, having arrived back I will just feel like I want to get on home!!!

Oh no, more decisions!!!!!

We have changed our room to a Cat 9c - Unfortunately it won't be on a gty basis, so I have spent all evening, going through the Dis boards for reviews and steamer trunk rooms!!! Got it down to five rooms on Deck 2, so fingers crossed they are not all taken!

I think we are all happier that we will have a room with a view now!

Kate

Glad you are happy with your room now - its a long cruise, with alot of daylight hours, so I'm sure you will get value for money.:)

We have pretty well, a whole "extra day" at the end of the cruise...I am determined not to waste it !! ......an organised coach trip (actually I think the last cruise hired a mini coach) is definitely something I want to explore ...not least to avoid the awful hour long taxi queue at Barcelona port !!!:sad2:

[jdybnsn]

Another idea would be using an executive lounge at the airport ......but that would still be a very long day !:confused:

[jdybnsn]

Hmmm ....just discovered there is a Cava Wine Cellars tour commonly offered to Barcelona tourists.

....beginning to like the idea of a Cava wine tour in the morning, followed by an afternoon on the beach at Sitges (a very pretty little seaside town, I have been there before).....:idea:


....still, plenty of time to think about this in more detail yet..;)

[clarasunnyside]

Please could you add us to the FE list,... and also details of our cabin numbers 7620 and 7621, to your general list plus the fact we are late dining. :goodvibes

Also is anyone interested in doing a ladies lunch, on a sea day, with a ($10 -ish) gift exchange game ? :confused3


My sister and I would be intertested in doing the lunch sounds fun.

[K8T]

Another idea would be using an executive lounge at the airport ......but that would still be a very long day !:confused:

We got the executive lounge with our flights, but we couldn't take our dd in!!!

I heard about the taxi queues, but we didn't encounter any on either of our trips, we were off by about 8.30ish and didn't have to wait atall - very strange.

Just heard that all five rooms I wanted to choose from are NOT available, so have been on the DCL site, not many available on Deck 2 at the moment, we prefer to be aft, but away from Ocean Quest. There are two on the Starboard side, but I want to be on the Port - as most of the ports were that side!!!!

Looks like I will have to book a Starboard aft and then keep checking to see if any rooms are released. If you look at avaialability, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount showing, although that may all change at the Paid in Full date!

Kate

[jdybnsn]

Just heard that all five rooms I wanted to choose from are NOT available, so have been on the DCL site, not many available on Deck 2 at the moment, we prefer to be aft, but away from Ocean Quest. There are two on the Starboard side, but I want to be on the Port - as most of the ports were that side!!!!


Kate

Wow ! I didn't think it would have been so booked up at this stage !!:headache:

....hopefully though keep checking as alot can change .....especially if DCL start offering any gty. discounts on this, or other cruises.;)

[K8T]

Well we have our room now 2512, the reviews are very good, it also has an extra foot or so of space, because of the curvature of the ship and an extra wide window sill, so I think that space far outweighs the fact we are starboard.

Jdybsn, you actually wrote a review of a cabin adjacent to this saying you liked the location!!

Now have to sort out the flights!

Have a good weekend everyone, we are tennis, kids bowling party and ski lessons start on Sunday!

Roll on half term.

Kate

[jdybnsn]

.

Jdybsn, you actually wrote a review of a cabin adjacent to this saying you liked the location!!

Kate

Yes, I remember it well - we did really like the location as it was really, really quiet and we did not find any problems at all with sea sickness or anything like that.:goodvibes

[mommy_grrl]

Have finally convinced the hubs to do this cruise but reading the last few posts -- is this cruise filling up???

Wondering if anyone has tips for booking best rates - I've cruised Carnival and RCCL but this will be our first Disney cruise. We're Americans living in Wales so we do have access to booking on a US website (using our legal US address) - curious if there is a difference in pricing btw UDS and GBP?

Any input would be helpful!!!

Our kids will be 5 and 7 by then - i'm a little nervous about the length of the day trips for my 5yo, she has such short little legs for walking :rotfl:

Looking forward to going back and reading this thread from the start (gulp) and getting to know you all better!!

[jdybnsn]

Wondering if anyone has tips for booking best rates - I've cruised Carnival and RCCL but this will be our first Disney cruise. We're Americans living in Wales so we do have access to booking on a US website (using our legal US address) - curious if there is a difference in pricing btw UDS and GBP?

!!

We are UK residents, with UK IP addresses, but still find it beneficial to use a US specialist cruise travel agency, like Dreamsunlimited (sponsors of this board) as their prices are similar to DCL website but they do offer very good on board credits (OBCs) per cabin.

I'm not sure whether anyone has got to the bottom of whether the GBP shown on the DCL is just a guide price before conversion, or if it is actual fixed GBP price......it is a very recent development.
Assuming the price is a fixed one though, whether its beneficial to book on there in GBP will require a crystal ball to predict currency movements - if you think the pound will gain strength over the dollar in the next 9 months, then you would be better booking in $s - the GPB rates are pretty low compared to the last few years.
There is a UK cruise specialist offering very good rates on the DCL cruises this year (which I won't be allowed to name on this board) BUT I don't know if they give the same cancellation/ refund terms as the US travel agents & DCL. Very generally speaking, travel agents in the UK do tend to keep most, if not all, of your deposit if cancelling a holiday and/or charge hefty fees for any amendments/alterations.

[jdybnsn]

Our kids will be 5 and 7 by then - i'm a little nervous about the length of the day trips for my 5yo, she has such short little legs for walking :rotfl:

!!

May be a careful choice of excursion would help - don't forget there will be many adults who are not that good on their feet too !

Remember - you don't have to do any/all the excursions - there is plenty of fun on board the ship !:goodvibes

[mommy_grrl]

May be a careful choice of excursion would help - don't forget there will be many adults who are not that good on their feet too !

Remember - you don't have to do any/all the excursions - there is plenty of fun on board the ship !:goodvibes

You don't know my husband! I took him on his very FIRST trip to WDW when he got his MBA and we covered all of the Magic Kingdom on the first day. (I didn't think it was possible...) Its reining him in that will be difficult!:rotfl:

We've both been to Florence so we'll likely explore Cinque Terre and La Spezia, instead. Rome will be the only really long trip, I think....

As for the rates, looking at another cruise there was a flat out difference in rates btw GBP and USD - before taking the exchange rate into consideration. Wasn't sure if non-US cruisers booked with a US travel agency - thanks for the info on refunds/onboard credits.

I'm a planner, so I need to get the cruise booked so I can start with door decorations and everything else!!!!!

[Keever]

Welcome aboard Mommy Grrl and family. The more the merrier! If you are a door-decorator you might be keen on joining the fish extender. Let me know and I'll add you to the list on our website.

I would be happy to join in if there is a luncheon and gift exchange. Shall we plan this for the first day at sea so we can meet one another? Anyone up for tea at Palo? We may also be interested in Barcelona tours if we don't fly out on the 30th. There is a flight at noon; do you think we'd make it?

I've started a countdown with the kids - they are humouring me. I've put a map up on a posterboard and each day I add a little factoid about the ports of call. Mostly I'm amusing myself. The boys are mostly interested in how many 13-15 year olds will be aboard. But I have captured their interest with some of the podcasts I've downloaded and they have been asking questions about activities and excursions.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians.

[jdybnsn]

I would be happy to join in if there is a luncheon and gift exchange. Shall we plan this for the first day at sea so we can meet one another? Anyone up for tea at Palo? We may also be interested in Barcelona tours if we don't fly out on the 30th. There is a flight at noon; do you think we'd make it?

.

Good plan for the ladies lunch on the first day :thumbsup2

Whether its for ladies lunch, or just a general DIS meet, I wonder if we could get the private room at Palo ? - I've always wanted to go there !! :love: Anyone know how to book it ??

[jdybnsn]

. The boys are mostly interested in how many 13-15 year olds will be aboard. .

My DS will be 14 at the time of the cruise - they are welcome to PM me for his email / facebook address, if they are keen to get to know someone before they go. :)

[helenreed]

Hi All!

I would definitely be up for a ladies lunch/tea too! My son will be 13 when we cruise and I could also send you his details for Facebook, it would be nice for them to have some ready made friends on board, particularly as he has 2 younger sisters! We have decided to extend our stay in Barcelona as Easyjet no longer flies daily to Newcastle, so we are having 2 nights before and 3 after, we were just too nervous to fly out on the day we leave, too much worry about fog!:confused3

[jdybnsn]

Hi All!

we were just too nervous to fly out on the day we leave, too much worry about fog!:confused3

Eeek !!! Fog in July !!!!.

.....that River Tyne has alot to answer for LOL !!!:rolleyes:

....just hope the Mersey isn't going to give us any similar problems !

[amandamc8]

... and also details of our cabin numbers 7620 and 7621, to your general list plus the fact we are late dining. :goodvibes

Also is anyone interested in doing a ladies lunch, on a sea day, with a ($10 -ish) gift exchange game ? :confused3

We will be neighbours - my Daughter and I are in 7622 :) And yes, I would be interested in a ladies lunch - great idea... I live on the Staffordshire/Cheshire border so may well not be a million miles away from where you are in the real world too!

Also, if you do decided to get together at the Trafford Centre (or anywhere else for that matter) for a 'pre-meet' count me in! :thumbsup2

Manda

[jdybnsn]

We will be neighbours - my Daughter and I are in 7622 :) And yes, I would be interested in a ladies lunch - great idea... I live on the Staffordshire/Cheshire border so may well not be a million miles away from where you are in the real world too!



Manda

Wow ...that's spooky !LOL !!

We live in Audlem, South Cheshire.....:goodvibes

[jdybnsn]

Well I have had a busy weekend :rolleyes1

...just booked Easyjet flights for a long weekend in Lisbon for beginning of May 2011 - My DH did not join us for the Dover- Barcelona cruise, and so I really wanted to go back there with him.:)

....plus, just booked a week in an apartment in Collioure, in Southern France for late May/June half term.
Its supposed to be a cheapie break ....but unless Ryanair can deliver some good no frills flights, later on this month, its going to turn out to be anything but :eek: !

Anyone else got other holiday plans to share ?