May 18, 2013 MAGIC EBTA - Who is with us?

[NancyIL]

You will be fine!!
When booked Disney airfare then the ship waits for you like they do when an excursion is running late!!!!

The ship will wait awhile for a busload of people on flights they booked. The ship won't wait overnight.

 

[MandyGirl]

would be so much easier if we could have a new thread with all this info on the first pages for group activities,we
would then just be able to go on edit/update.

sarah

My two cents would be yes. I have appreciated having it on the front page previously where each event organizer completed a "hold" spot to create the thread, then updated their spot as events were updated. But I am probably in the minority.

I hadn't checked in for a while, so just stopped by to say hello....and I'm totally lost reading the last few pages of this thread. DD and I are still planning to be on board.

Have I mentioned I am looking forward to meeting you?!? You have been such a positive inspiration here on the DIS boards and in answering so many questions!

My only comment--do not fly in on the day of the cruise if you have ANY other options. On a "normal" cruise, it makes for a very hectic, crazy morning at best. On this cruise, there is no way. Even if it means the last flight in the evening before, you'll be thankful in the morning that you did it!

That's my two cents as well. Seen too many horror stories about flying in the day of. I was sharing previously about Padalyn's concern about possibly being stranded in Chicago 3 hours when her flight already lands at 12:15am and car rental counter closes 1:00am. Happens a lot I would assume. I live in driving distance of the port and could easily save the hotel the night before, but will still go down a day early for this one. But they are trying to come in the night before which is a positive.

It was just crazy! Nothing you can do when a natural disaster hits, so you might as well laugh. During our rehersal dinner (for which there was no rehersal) the groomsmen hemed their suit pants so that they hit their calves and were "prepared for the flood with their flood pants" When our bridesmaids/groomsmen were introduced to the reception, they came out wearing hip waiters. It worked out but it still upsets me sometimes to look at the pictures.

We had to be prepared too. We married while on a cruise -- on St John -- and had to keep thinking "what if the ship misses port". Our worst case was that everyone had to show passports or birth certificates on that sailing when getting off at St Thomas because of routing, and one couple had misplaced their's in their stateroom. Luckily not the bride, groom, parents, or Best Man / Maid of Honor, and honestly we mainly cared that bride, groom, minister and God were on the beach - everyone else was icing on the cake. Curt did roll up his pants -- high water from the waves

This makes me totally nervous. We booked Disney Air and now I'm worried as I'm pretty sure they'll fly us in the day of. Does anyone know what they'll do if our flight is late/cancelled?

I believe when booking air with the cruiseline they are responsible for getting you to your next available port of call should there be an issue. Like kcashner said... Castaway Cay with no commercial air service (although there is a runway) or Madeira.


On a positive note:
When I went down to watch the Magic sail into Galveston the first time on Sept 22, I stayed all day to watch her sail away as well that afternoon. Disney actually HELD the ship for a family arriving by cab from the airport. I was trying to make a 6:30 flight after 4:30 sailaway, and the ship wasn't throwing any lines at all at 4:30. (They had opened the next pier over that day for festivities - everyone went through security). Anyway, I walked back over by security and asked the Disney folks what was going on, and they said they were waiting on a family. So curiosity got me, and I hung out there because it was shady as well (Texas can be HOT!). A cab comes in, but then port security did not want to let them through. A CM went running out with a walkie talkie to holler at security to let them in. Sure enough, it was that family the ship was waiting on. I-45 can get backed up in the stretch between Houston and Galveston, which is what had happened. We watched sailway at 5:00, walked back to the parking garage near the Tremont, and my college roommate drove us back to Hobby. Got caught in rodeo traffic northbound I-45 and still made our 6:30 flight out of Hobby, but got to wave to four cabins' worth of friends on the Magic as she sailed away.

 

[Tink1987]

Same thing for those of us post-cruise... you never know what to expect to receive, so it's hard to plan luggage space for the unknown. Especially if spending some time after the cruise on planes, trains, and other ships

I think we ended up with 6 or 7 groups of about 15ish cabins per group last on our WBTA 2011. Quite manageable then, and could participate in one or multiple groups. Super fun!

I really can't wait - luckily we are going to book a extra bag on the our flight home from Barcelona

 

[MandyGirl]

Thought I would share to double-check your passports and make sure they expire long enough after you plan to return (recommendation is 6 months). Also, don't trust your local CVS or Walgreens on photos. I have to renew both mine and oldest daughter's passports. I kept looking at my new picture thinking didn't seem as sharp in clarity, so instead of mailing it in, I thought I would run to a local agency that handles passports. When I pulled out the original passport to return it, I noticed the new picture seemed larger as well. Sure enough... the passport lady took one look and without even measuring said it wasn't correct. Then measured to show me what I had thought. I had a slight smile, which made my eyes wrinkle, so that's a no-no as well. Last time we did passports it was okay to smile, now they want the "neutral" facial expression.

So lesson learned: be wary of the local places that do passport photos. All four of us have had passports previously with no issues, and hubby and I more than once, but definitely flubbed up on the photography this time

http://travel.state.gov/passport/pptphotoreq/pptphotoreq_5333.html

 

[Debbru]

Hi all,

DH & I will be on this cruise - I've posted before on this thread, but it's been a while.

I've been trying to keep up with reading all the posts & I haven't seen any mention of this ( I apologize if this was already brought up):

The CDC has issued an advisory for Madeira regarding Dengue Fever (transmitted by mosquito bites). They haven't issued a "don't travel" alert but have issued a "try not to get bitten" alert & advise wearing long sleeves, long pants & using insect repellant. The last update states there have been over 2100 cases reported on Madeira. They also say that reported cases are waning but this could be due to the time of year & that the springtime increase of mosquitos could revive the epidemic of Dengue.

Does this concern anyone else as far as planning for excursions at Madeira or am I overthinking this???

Debbie

 

[twopeasonepod]

My only comment--do not fly in on the day of the cruise if you have ANY other options. On a "normal" cruise, it makes for a very hectic, crazy morning at best. On this cruise, there is no way. Even if it means the last flight in the evening before, you'll be thankful in the morning that you did it!

To the person considering flying in the day of the cruise: DON'T! There is only one port stop between Galveston and Madeira (on Day 11 of the cruise), and that is at Castaway Cay - with no commercial airport. If you should "miss the boat" out of Galveston - you will miss over half the cruise.

Now I am panicking, too. We had planned to fly out of HNL non-stop to IAH, landing at 8:00 or 8:30 am. Do we really need to worry about missing the boat (literally haha)? Leaving the day before means losing a day of work, and for me that is almost half the price of the cruise! Obviously flying in a day early is doable, just wondering if you think it's necessary given that we will have eight hours before the ship leaves? I don't think there will be any port upgrades, so not too worried about getting there by 10.

 

[NancyIL]

Now I am panicking, too. We had planned to fly out of HNL non-stop to IAH, landing at 8:00 or 8:30 am. Do we really need to worry about missing the boat (literally haha)? Leaving the day before means losing a day of work, and for me that is almost half the price of the cruise! Obviously flying in a day early is doable, just wondering if you think it's necessary given that we will have eight hours before the ship leaves? I don't think there will be any port upgrades, so not too worried about getting there by 10.

I wouldn't fly 2 hours from Illinois on the same day - let alone fly from Hawaii! I'll repeat what I said before: IF you miss the boat in Galveston, the earliest you can join the cruise is in Madeira on Day 11 of a 14 night/15 day cruise. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish!

 

[woody73]

Now I am panicking, too. We had planned to fly out of HNL non-stop to IAH, landing at 8:00 or 8:30 am. Do we really need to worry about missing the boat (literally haha)?

Did you book your air through DCL? If not, if your flight is delayed or canceled, is there a later flight that would get you to Houston in time?

Having met fellow passengers who have missed embarkation and had to catch up with the ship, I make it a point to arrive at least one day in advance.

Woody

 

[NancyIL]

Did you book your air through DCL? If not, if your flight is delayed or canceled, is there a later flight that would get you to Houston in time?

Having met fellow passengers who have missed embarkation and had to catch up with the ship, I make it a point to arrive at least one day in advance.

Woody

According to Kayak, there is only one non-stop from Honolulu to Houston, and it is on United departing at 7:35 pm. on May 17. If that flight is merely delayed, there is still time to get to the ship. However, if that flight gets cancelled, the PP will be scrambling for connecting flights that depart from Honolulu in the evening. The value of a day's wages is nothing if you miss over half the cruise.

 

[MandyGirl]

Seriously, that time we had an 8+ hour delay flying from Maui to Lihue, Kauai --- a simple, nonstop 30+ minute flight, it is something to think about. Of course not Aloha Airlines any more and we didn't have anywhere to be that day except condo check-in, but enough to teach me that a simple nonstop flight can be yuck. Then our bags didn't make that flight and arrived 24+ hours later, which could also be bad for this cruise if something went awry with ground ops checking your baggage.

It was fun times juggling a 1 year old those 8 hours as well to wait on the flight.

 

[WVURunner]

The CDC has issued an advisory for Madeira regarding Dengue Fever (transmitted by mosquito bites). They haven't issued a "don't travel" alert but have issued a "try not to get bitten" alert & advise wearing long sleeves, long pants & using insect repellant. The last update states there have been over 2100 cases reported on Madeira. They also say that reported cases are waning but this could be due to the time of year & that the springtime increase of mosquitos could revive the epidemic of Dengue.

Does this concern anyone else as far as planning for excursions at Madeira or am I overthinking this???

Debbie

It doesn't concern me to much, I didn't see one mosquito while on the EBPC cruise and people were worried about Maleria/Yellow Fever on that Meet Thread. Most of these travel alerts are for people who will be spending time in the Country, not less than 8 hrs in a port. Bring bug spray and stay away from standing water (so stay away from storm grates!) and I think we should be fine, having said that:
Monday is my annual physical for work ( I am 40 hr. OSHA HAZWOPER for work so I have to be checked throughly every year, so many tests!) and the doctor is also our travel doctor. I'll see what she thinks and hopefully it doesn't envolve any shots.

leaving the day before means losing a day of work, and for me that is almost half the price of the cruise!

This why I want to fly out Friday after work (7ish PM flight) I am hoping it leaves time for us in case somethingn happens. I work on a billable hour and get paid for time I work over my 40 hr work week. I average about a 70 hr work week, which equals 30 hrs of fun money! I hate wasting a full day of OT, plus this way the kids can get in one last day of school.

 

[woody73]

. . . The CDC has issued an advisory for Madeira regarding Dengue Fever (transmitted by mosquito bites).

Does this concern anyone else as far as planning for excursions at Madeira or am I overthinking this???

Debbie, thank you for the heads up.

I've been to Madiera multiple times, and would not have considered mosquitos. But now I'll take some precautions.

On our last cruise to Hawaii, I wore shorts at one of the ports and got terrible bug bites on my legs near one of the beaches. My DW wore long pants and did not get a single bite.

So this May at Madiera, it's long pants for me.

Woody

 

[heatherb819]

I would think they would fly you to Nassau or Freeport & water shuttle you to Castaway Cay if you would happen to miss a flight or be delayed. We booked Disney air EBTA in 2011 as well as this time & had no worries. Price was cheaper for us & no hassle for me to find flights. To each his own.

 

[Cabinfever2013]

The train is possible, but going thru the Alpes would make it probably at least a 4-5 day train trip.
From Barcelona to Amsterdam by train will go thru Paris.

The costs of a trainticket (not the alphes route but straight) would be around ¬300-¬350 per person while a flight costs you about ¬100 per person...

Wow, our passenger trains are cheaper than our plane tickets, but they are snail slow; it's just a great way to travel with kids.
I've heard that through Paris, I would have to change not just trains but depots, like we do at Dallas, TX over to the Ft Worth station. I really want to avoid that and may fly. I think I'm the only person here that wants to avoid Paris, lol.

I'll save that city til they are older, and we're all a bit more worldly.
I appreciate the headsup.

 

[queenbee99]

I don't think I have posted yet in this thread but we booked this one on our Alaskan last year. Our final payment is due next week and while we aren't canceling, I do think I want to change our cruise so it gives us more time before its non refundable. We are waiting to hear if we will be moving and it's any time now. At least if I move it, I can move it back but if things change then I am not stuck ya know? I havent booked our airfare back yet and haven't read the thread enough to know if there are tips for booking airfare back. I was getting 1400 airfare one way per person. We would like to do Paris after and would like tohar from anyone doing the same. I did call to price airfare thru dcl and theirs was like 850 per person but we would have to leave the day the boat docks. I would at least like to stay in Barcelona more then the day if we don't do Paris after. Anyone else book airfare thru dcl? Any tips? It will be myself, dh and my 9 yr old dd and our 4th cruise.

 

[Kirbo]

You will be fine!!
When booked Disney airfare then the ship waits for you like they do when an excursion is running late!!!!

That'd be nice, but I can't help but worry that if we were late enough, it would be cheaper for htem to set sail and just fly us in 11 days later.

The ship will wait awhile for a busload of people on flights they booked. The ship won't wait overnight.

That's my new worry.

Have I mentioned I am looking forward to meeting you?!? You have been such a positive inspiration here on the DIS boards and in answering so many questions!
I believe when booking air with the cruiseline they are responsible for getting you to your next available port of call should there be an issue. Like kcashner said... Castaway Cay with no commercial air service (although there is a runway) or Madeira.

I agree on meeting kcashner! She was the first Disser that I noticed on here, always ready with a good tip or kind words.

On her advice, I'll be calling my TA in the morning to find out more.

Hi all,

DH & I will be on this cruise - I've posted before on this thread, but it's been a while.

I've been trying to keep up with reading all the posts & I haven't seen any mention of this ( I apologize if this was already brought up):

The CDC has issued an advisory for Madeira regarding Dengue Fever (transmitted by mosquito bites). They haven't issued a "don't travel" alert but have issued a "try not to get bitten" alert & advise wearing long sleeves, long pants & using insect repellant. The last update states there have been over 2100 cases reported on Madeira. They also say that reported cases are waning but this could be due to the time of year & that the springtime increase of mosquitos could revive the epidemic of Dengue.

Does this concern anyone else as far as planning for excursions at Madeira or am I overthinking this???

Debbie

Now I have something new to add to my fears

I would think they would fly you to Nassau or Freeport & water shuttle you to Castaway Cay if you would happen to miss a flight or be delayed. We booked Disney air EBTA in 2011 as well as this time & had no worries. Price was cheaper for us & no hassle for me to find flights. To each his own.

Thank you.

I'll call my TA tomorrow and see what they can tell me

 

[margaretstahl]

Disney is handling our flight plans and they were flying us down on Saturday morning from Virginia. I told my husband no way! Disney then found us a hotel room and we are flying down on Friday.
If Disney flies you down the day of the cruise, there must not be too many problems with flights. I am still pleased to be arriving a day early so I can be well rested for the fun on the cruise. I will be so excited that I know I won't sleep the night before we leave home.

 

[Kirbo]

Disney is handling our flight plans and they were flying us down on Saturday morning from Virginia. I told my husband no way! Disney then found us a hotel room and we are flying down on Friday.
If Disney flies you down the day of the cruise, there must not be too many problems with flights. I am still pleased to be arriving a day early so I can be well rested for the fun on the cruise. I will be so excited that I know I won't sleep the night before we leave home.

How were you able to find out your flights? We haven't been given any information about ours. But thank you for posting about yours. I hope they are willing to do the same for us!

 

[heatherb819]

That'd be nice, but I can't help but worry that if we were late enough, it would be cheaper for htem to set sail and just fly us in 11 days later.

That's my new worry.

I agree on meeting kcashner! She was the first Disser that I noticed on here, always ready with a good tip or kind words.

On her advice, I'll be calling my TA in the morning to find out more.

Now I have something new to add to my fears

Thank you.

I'll call my TA tomorrow and see what they can tell me

Please post what you find out!!

 

[padalyn]

the is the up to date list of those that of pm'd to sign up for fish extender.

Sonjaleigh 3a
Binkytell 2a 2c
Kris3kid 2a
Padalyn 2a
Tink1987 2a
HeatherB819 2a 1c
wickesy 2a
AashleySEG 2a
Missandrea 2a 1c
Twopeasonepod 2a 2c
Cheflawrence 2a 1c
"Yorkshire 3a
Disney fan"
Ladyshopper 1a 2c
Goofy39.3 2a 1c
Squirrel956 2a
RDDoll 2a
FarnMor 2a
Mboekhoff 2a 2c
Rayofredondo 2a
Margaretstahl 2a
Thepedersonfamily 2a 2c
Gotomu212 2a 1c
Mandygirl 2a 2c
Sumeto 3a
Wildl1021 2a
Maza 2a
OKrayslovedisney 2a
Msammon 2a 2c
Tigger2on 1a 3c
Saracat 2a
cabinfever2013 1a 3c

31 cabins in total with 62 adults and 25 children, im sure this number will rise.

how about cut-off time for signing up, 18th april does that sound reasonable?


would be so much easier if we could have a new thread with all this info on the first pages for group activities,we
would then just be able to go on edit/update.

sarah

Thank you Sarah - this helps at least we can get started! We are on the give to all list - split or not.

I agree about the first post - maybe you should be the one to start the next thread - I am sure we are getting close!

April 18 if fine for a close date.

Can you please post the number of each gender of adults and kids at some point? We have gender specific items in mind.

Hi all,

DH & I will be on this cruise - I've posted before on this thread, but it's been a while.

I've been trying to keep up with reading all the posts & I haven't seen any mention of this ( I apologize if this was already brought up):

The CDC has issued an advisory for Madeira regarding Dengue Fever (transmitted by mosquito bites). They haven't issued a "don't travel" alert but have issued a "try not to get bitten" alert & advise wearing long sleeves, long pants & using insect repellant. The last update states there have been over 2100 cases reported on Madeira. They also say that reported cases are waning but this could be due to the time of year & that the springtime increase of mosquitos could revive the epidemic of Dengue.

Does this concern anyone else as far as planning for excursions at Madeira or am I overthinking this???

Debbie

Not overly concerned, but will make sure to pack insect repellent - since I can't use DEET, I will have to recheck my supplies of Castile, and SkinSoSoft.

Thanks for the warning!!

Now I am panicking, too. We had planned to fly out of HNL non-stop to IAH, landing at 8:00 or 8:30 am. Do we really need to worry about missing the boat (literally haha)? Leaving the day before means losing a day of work, and for me that is almost half the price of the cruise! Obviously flying in a day early is doable, just wondering if you think it's necessary given that we will have eight hours before the ship leaves? I don't think there will be any port upgrades, so not too worried about getting there by 10.

Yes - it can take over an hour to get onto the island I am told - that is why we are flying in so late the night before...plus I am sure you read my other posts...we have stuff that just makes it difficult to say the least.

I will post my planes, trains, and autos story in a little bit..to explain HOW hairy it can be to fly the same day!

Cayla