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

[MandyGirl]

Does anyone know the charge per bag on Easy Jet?

I have a feeling we will do Paris if we add on. It's not like I don't want to go there. But I love all things royal and want to see castles and tower of London. We figure we will end up there at some point and can do it right instead of rushing it.

No clue. Maybe go through the website like you are making a booking until you get to the point you have to put in a credit card to see?

While you are there in the vicinity... worth doing. That's how several aspects of our trip have been - minus well do it.

 

[MandyGirl]

We are planning on joining the FE as well. Please let me know when the final day is to sign up.

For those of you that have been on this cruise before, what is the weather supposed to be like? Both on the cruise and off in Europe?

A while back I had peeked at some websites, and I noticed the EBTA in May will be a few degrees cooler than our WBTA in September. Not that it helps much by putting it that way! But I wore shorts and capris onboard, and pretty much shorts at all ports on that WBTA. I will bring mainly capris for this one I believe. Either way, I hope to pack for 7 nights and do laundry onboard as well as in Barcelona (we booked an apartment with a washer dryer).

 

[queenbee99]

Hmmm...is it too cold to swim? We did the Alaskan in June and dd did swim one day but it was hard getting out because of the cold. It's hard packing for cooler weather if we will be there for 3 weeks. I wondered about shipping some of dd's things back from Barcelona to make room for new things. Anyone know anything about that?

Is anyone taking the train to Paris? We did the train to Vancouver and dd loved it.

A while back I had peeked at some websites, and I noticed the EBTA in May will be a few degrees cooler than our WBTA in September. Not that it helps much by putting it that way! But I wore shorts and capris onboard, and pretty much shorts at all ports on that WBTA. I will bring mainly capris for this one I believe. Either way, I hope to pack for 7 nights and do laundry onboard as well as in Barcelona (we booked an apartment with a washer dryer).

 

[heatherb819]

Kids & Adults were swimming each day of the crossing in 2011, it wasn't hot out but warm. It was warm enough to enjoy CC!

 

[MandyGirl]

We did the train to Vancouver and dd loved it.

Isn't that a great little ride?!? We did that as well - flew into SEA and took the train to Vancouver. Well worth the ride.

 

[Tink1987]

I love going to London but I love Paris even more, we took my daughter when she was 6 and 9 and she loves it too, but then we are from UK so maybe the different culture appeals to us more when on vacation. although a cospomolitan city, London can be very much home away from home for us. In Paris I love nothing more than sitting outside a cafe, people watching, listening to the romantic accent of the French men [even if they are saying I stink] and drinking lots of coffee and wine

I couldn't agree more. London is just a home away from home, but probably because we go so much. I would prefer Paris because its not in our home country. I would say Paris is more 'pretty' with it's beautiful buildings and as Binky says - lovely little cafes with pastries and hot chocolate galore London has some fantastic buildings as well but in a different style.

 

[Tink1987]

While I've enjoyed visiting Edinburgh (which has some of the longest days I've ever experienced and friendliest people I've ever met), the military tattoo is still on my bucket list.

Woody

Oh I love Edinburgh. All of Scotland actually probably because I'm half Scottish

I so need to do the tattoo and the fringe as well :£

 

[Tink1987]

We LOVE Paris.
Having had the pleasure of spending several vacations (and business trips) in both, we would choose Paris every time. It has the feel of a walkable village with an excellent transportation system, with Metro locations within a very few blocks of each other. London feels much more spread out and the tube stations are many blocks apart oftentimes.

I personally disagree with this - I felt that the transportation system was horrific in Paris. It smelt, it was dirty and was full of homeless people begging and buskers. In London, in Zone 1, the tube stations aren't that far apart at all, in fact we prefer to walk because we feel it takes longer going up and down the escalators, waiting for a train and then up out of the underground where we could just walk it in 10 minutes! As I said earlier in this thread, London's tube is much much cleaner then any of Europe's underground transits systems that I have been on......

 

[Tink1987]

I haven't had time to read thru this thread but who is planning on Paris or London?
At first we thought we would do a combo but decided we would be rushing both. My little girl has been dying to go to Paris, but I really want to do London. I do think if we add the extra week Paris will win out. For those of you that have been to both, which did you prefer? We do want at least one day in DLParis but don't want to spend alot of time there.

I've added my photo links below to my Paris, DLP and London sets so you can have a look at a few photos and maybe get a feel for either place?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markcollettephotos/collections/72157629774672267/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markcollettephotos/sets/72157632327432793/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markcollettephotos/sets/72157631039713848/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markcollettephotos/sets/72157628944631103/

 

[Tink1987]

Does anyone know the charge per bag on Easy Jet?

I have a feeling we will do Paris if we add on. It's not like I don't want to go there. But I love all things royal and want to see castles and tower of London. We figure we will end up there at some point and can do it right instead of rushing it.

The charge can be different for each flight I find with Easyjet sometimes

You are looking at around £11 for a bag but no more then £15...

 

[SaraCat]

I would go a little earlier for the cut off if I were you, just thinking about all the last minute things to do before the cruise and making a ton of FE gifts would be hard. How many groups are you going to split it up into? Or I guess I should say how many per group so we can get started on them now.

I would also like a little more planning time - Can we decide how many each group will be split into? At least then I can decide how many groups to commit to as I am planning for one of my FE items to be per cabin.

 

[WVURunner]

I think we are just going to fly home after the cruise and be back at work on Monday. DH can not deciede what he wants to do so we will just treat this as a disney cruise vacation. My family is quite well traveled (My Mom was born in Europe on a US base, my sister spent many summers in Europe and my niece and nephew's father is European so they summer in Europe, plus we did the med cruiose in 2010) while DH never traveled before he met me, so I have been all over Europe before we met. Everytime I mention something, he says, well everyone has already done it. His brother just moved to Zurich so I said we should go visit him but he won't go because everyone else has already been. So frusterating! At this point, I am kinda hoping he won't come along!

I am going to go against everyone here and say that I prefer London over Paris. I have no want to go back to Paris but will go back to London every chance I get.

As far as FE, we had over 70 cabins on the EBPC and it was great, everyone gave awesome small gifts or gifts that could be used on the trip. It didn't take up much room at all.

 

[padalyn]

Does anyone know the charge per bag on Easy Jet?

I have a feeling we will do Paris if we add on. It's not like I don't want to go there. But I love all things royal and want to see castles and tower of London. We figure we will end up there at some point and can do it right instead of rushing it.

I think this was already answered - but the cost is by weight. You can actually go on their website and figure out how much weight you want to carry and then figure out the cost. I am uping our number of bags to 4 (since we now have 2 checked at both ends) and that is a 40.00 charge. The weight you purchase is for ALL the bags combined; so if one is heavier that is fine - the next just has to be lower!

As far as FE, we had over 70 cabins on the EBPC and it was great, everyone gave awesome small gifts or gifts that could be used on the trip. It didn't take up much room at all.

I have done FE's that included over 100 cabins - no issue. We always enjoy most of the gifts, some are geared towards kids and those we will regift to crew members since we don't have kids, but we enjoy the effort and thought that goes into every gift!

 

[sdlong329]

I am starting to get more and more annoyed at Disney for going from Galveston!

Disney had to seek an alternate port ... not only for an additional ship, but also, for access to another part of the country (to attract locals to sail DCL). I'm not a fan of Galveston either ... no matter ... DCL is not sailing out of Galveston next year.

Steven

 

[sdlong329]

We are connecting through Midway (I think that is O'Hare - right?)

I am not sure if anyone responded to this ... but, O'Hare and Midway are different airport!

Steven

 

[kaseyC]

Thank you for doing that! I understand we are to volunteer for only one activity so everyone has a chance to participate, which is why I was not added to the events I had offered to coordinate previously. I'm doing Lanyards (not an onboard activity) but am waiting until after PIF date to get that going and looking at results of how many have actually said they would be part of the team (meaning donate money). Some want to receive lanyards but not part of the team according to the poll, and of course some who said they will be part of the lanyard team may have since withdrawn from the cruise. Hoping for an accurate picture after PIF date so we see how much money we will have to work with -- lanyard quality (and prices) vary greatly.

Mandy, if you need more folks to donate money for the lanyards, just let me know I'll be happy to be part of the team.

I'm still on for the book exchange. I'm just planning to hang a small tote outside of my stateroom. Any unwanted reading material leftover at the end of the cruise I'll plan to leave with guest services. They can donate it to the crew library or Cove cafe. We're traveling for about 3 more weeks after the cruise so there will be no way for me to carry the leftovers with me.

 

[sdlong329]

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

If someone is JUST NOW noticing their passports have expired ... they are skating on thin ice, but there IS time. That aside, pictures for passports are quite easy ... CVS, Costco, Walgreen ... anywhere with a one hour photo lab can do them. They take a picture of you in front of a white screen, print the pics on 4x6 format, then cut them down to size. If you go to a high end camera shop in a local mall, they will do the same thing, but charge you 5x more. If you go to AAA or a travel agency ... they use the same process.

Remember, you mail in pics with your Passport application. If the pics were not acceptable (previously), they would not have been utilized on your existing passport. Yes, state and federal agencies now request NO SMILES ... easier for facial recognition software.

 

[Tink1987]

Does anyone know the charge per bag on Easy Jet?

I have a feeling we will do Paris if we add on. It's not like I don't want to go there. But I love all things royal and want to see castles and tower of London. We figure we will end up there at some point and can do it right instead of rushing it.

I understand you love all things royal - however the Buckingham Palace tours aren't on at that time of year. So all you would see really is Buckingham Palace. You could visit St James Palace - however again I think you can only see the outside of it?

So I wouldn't swing for London over Paris just because of the royal connection. As you say if you are going to come back at another time and not rush London, come back in July/August when Buckingham is open for tours

 

[sdlong329]

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!

Absolutely incorrect! Castaway Cay is located in the Bahamas, which consists of more than 700 islands. Of those islands, the ABACO ISLANDS are located within eyesight of Castaway Cay. The local Bahamians working at Castaway Cay (water excursions) live on the Abaco Islands. There is an airport on GRAND ABACO ISLAND ... most of you know it as Bimini (BIM). Currently, IAH and HOU have same day flights to Bimini. There are plenty of water shuttles to get someone from Abaco to Castaway (that's how the locals get to Castaway).

DCL has been sailing since 1998 ... and has likely been handling flights since day one. We all know, WDW and D/L book flights for guests as part of packages ... this is not new to Disney. That being said, nobody can foresee delays (not even Disney).

We ALL know, DCL will wait for guests returning to the ship late, if they are on a DCL excursion. We also know DCL will wait for guests who are running late from a DCL booked flight. Since DCL usually books same day flights, there is no chance of being delayed overnight. For those flying into IAH or HOU on the morning of the cruise ... if there are no serious delays ... you will be fine. If there are moderate or serious delays ... contact DCL AND your travel insurance company. They should be able to provide information regarding how you can join up with the ship IF you indeed, miss the ship.

If you expect to arrive at the port after 3PM (+/-) ... I would call DCL to notify them of your delay.

 

[NancyIL]

Yes, I know that DCL (and all cruise lines) arrange same-day flights for customers who book air through them. Most of the time those people get to their ships before they sail. However, it can be a nightmare for those who "miss the boat." I will not fly to the port the same day the ship sails, and I think booking international flights that arrive the same day is foolish.

If people can join the ship in Castaway Cay by flying elsewhere in the Bahamas and then boating in - that's great. However, they will still miss the first 3 days of the cruise. I prefer to limit my chances of "missing the boat" by not tempting fate in the first place. I am flying to Houston 2 days before we sail, and hopefully that will be enough time!