7/13/13 ~~ Eastern Mediterranean Mouseketeers!

[Y-GRO-UP]

Yes, good info. Still not sure on whether to try for it or book a flight the next morning and stay at an airport hotel upon debarkation. As for DISair, do we have to have booked the cruise via DCL?. We booked through a TA

 

[LovesToRun]

Yes, good info. Still not sure on whether to try for it or book a flight the next morning and stay at an airport hotel upon debarkation. As for DISair, do we have to have booked the cruise via DCL?. We booked through a TA

Hi there! Welcome to our group.

I haven't ever booked air through Disney, but my inlaws have, and they booked it through their TA who also booked their cruise. I'm guessing your TA can book the air for you through Disney as well. I would ask your TA if you do want to go this route.

If you do book your air with Disney (whether it's Disney direct or your TA), supposedly they guarantee that you will make your flight (or at least book you on a new flight with no charges to you if you miss your flight because the ship didn't get to port on time, or a reason that is Disney related).

But, if you book your air on your own, I haven't ever been to Barcelona, but my rule of thumb is I would not book a flight before 12:00 PM, and I would actually plan for booking a flight in the afternoon (and if you have to wait a bit at the airport, that is better than rushing and barely making it, or possibly missing your flight). But, if you do get a flight at 11:30 AM, you can request with guest services that you be in the first group off the ship, and I would pre-arrange a private car/taxi to drive you to the airport so the taxi is there waiting for you so you don't have to wait in the Taxi line at port, and you can get to the airport right away this way.

I am also not sure about this, but if you decide to take the Disney Transportation from port to the airport, I think they require your flight to leave after 12:00PM. But, I'm not sure about that. But, one benefit to doing Disney transportation, if you have a flight close to noon, is Disney will check in your bags for you from the ship, so you won't see your bags until you get home.... that saves you standing in lines at the airport waiting to check your own bags. However, I would make sure Disney does air/bag check for your particular airline (they don't do this for every single airline).

But, if you decide to stay the night near the airport and take an early morning flight the next day, I know there are lots of really reasonably priced hotels near the airport with free airport shuttle service.

 

[Disney_fans]

We did the Disney Med cruise in 2011 and had a 10:45am flight out of Barcelona. It's a small airport and very easy to get around. We made sure we were the first group off the ship and took a taxi to the airport. We had plenty of time. That said, we were very stressed the night before. If you do choose an early flight, I would recommend a couple things - be in the first group off the ship, take your luggage with you rather than having the ship take your luggage the night before, and go directly to the taxi line. We waited only 5 minutes for a taxi, but we heard the queue got very long and some people waited up to 45 minutes. The good news is that the drive to the airport is pretty short.

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

My partner Brian and our son Brennen (age 5) and I are looking forward to this great trip. We are from Pittsburgh, PA and Palm Coast, FL. Second seating. #7598

Welcome Aboard! By looking at your DISname, I guessed that your name was Paul for the Roll Call. Flip me a PM if I'm wrong on that!

Beth

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Anyone out there..? just stumbled across this disboards.com while searching for information on our return flight from Barcelona. We have been on one Disney Cruise before but never in the Med. Not sure exactly how this DisBoard works. But i have some questions regarding our Med cruise and it seem like alot of people on this board know a lot of stuff about Disney cruises.

Cruising July 13 out of Barcelona. Husband, wife, 14 yr old boy, 11 yr old girl. 2nd seating from Virginia....USA.

Welcome Aboard. You've been added to the Roll Call on page 1.

 

[LovesToRun]

Hi all,

I have a question for those of you who have done a Med cruise before (or if you haven't, but want to chime in from research you've done).

We are staying at a hotel near the airport after the cruise for one night and we fly out the day after we get off the ship. So, we won't be in a rush to get to the airport at all once we get off the ship.

I've read that some people pre-book taxi's (or private taxi's/private transportation) so when they get off the ship, the car is waiting and they don't have to wait in a taxi line, etc. But, I've also read that you can just wait for a taxi, but the line can get really long to wait.

Since we won't be in a hurry at all, I'm trying to figure out what is the most cost-effective. Do you know if the price of a taxi that you wait in line for is the same price as if you pre-book a taxi/private car? Or, is the pre-booking a private car more expensive no matter what?

Also, my parents will be with us, and they are staying at the same airport hotel as us and flying out (on a different flight) the next day, too. Since there will be 6 of us wanting to go to the same airport hotel, plus our luggage, if we wait in the taxi line to get a taxi rather than pre-book, are all of those taxi's just 4-door sedans (ie, won't hold 6 passengers), or do they have 6+ passenger taxi's in the taxi line?

If the taxi line only has sedan type cars that won't accommodate more than 4 passengers, then we'd have to get two taxi's (one for my parents and one for our family). I'm guessing in this case, it would be cheaper to pre-book a van that would accommodate all 6 of us.

I have been trying to figure all this out, and I can't quite figure out what is the cheapest option for us.... and we are fine waiting in the taxi line if we needed to, since we won't be in a rush, IF the taxi line is cheaper for all 6 of us than pre-booking our a private taxi/car.

Any thoughts??

Thanks!!

 

[Y-GRO-UP]

Thank for the info on flights etc. I will be reading through the entire thread. So much good info. I tried to PM the ones in charge of Tyne DIS FB group for this cruise but I need to post more before it will let me PM.

 

[Y-GRO-UP]

Welcome Aboard. You've been added to the Roll Call on page 1.

Thanks Tink, to fill in the ????s. Jason, DW Buffy, DS Aaron, DD Georgia. . Learning as I go

 

[LovesToRun]

Thank for the info on flights etc. I will be reading through the entire thread. So much good info. I tried to PM the ones in charge of Tyne DIS FB group for this cruise but I need to post more before it will let me PM.

Yes, there is a lot of great info on this thread! A great place to get ideas and share ideas for the trip.

Regarding needing more posts in order to PM, in a previous cruise meet group I was in, there was someone who needed like 5 or 6 more posts until they could PM, and they wanted to send a PM to someone organizing something. So, that person wrote one post to everyone saying that the next 6 posts will be just "nothing" posts so they could get to their limit so they could PM (this way, everyone would know why they were posting non-sense posts, and people would just ignore them). You could do that.

This person wrote like 6 posts with just like one word per post... haha! Something like, "Soon I can private message people" but rather than write that whole sentence in one post, they wrote one word per post, and then got to their quota in a couple minutes....

Anyway, just an idea. Or, you could just wait until you have enough "legit" posts.

 

[Y-GRO-UP]

Okay...read through the first dozen pages...still not sure what an FE Fish Extender is....?

 

[Y-GRO-UP]

Filling PM quota...I need

 

[Y-GRO-UP]

..just a few more post to be able to PM

 

[dormouse7899]

Okay...read through the first dozen pages...still not sure what an FE Fish Extender is....?

Outside your cabin door on the ship is a fish. People hang fancy looking organizers from them (extending the fish). A group of people participate in leaving gifts for each other in the pockets of the organizer.

Unfortunately I believe the date for joining the fishextender group has closed as people need a final count of participants and time to make the gifts. Although you do not need to make handmade gifts, many do.

If you search the internet for "what is a fish extender disney cruise" there are lots of better explanations than mine.
I hope this helps.

 

[Y-GRO-UP]

rather than just Room # GTY, Category 11A ??

 

[LovesToRun]

rather than just Room # GTY, Category 11A ??

The one time we did a GTA status, we found out by looking up our reservation on the Disney Cruises website, and our cabin number just showed up one day. For GTA, it would be too early for your cabin number to be assigned now, but I would start checking your reservation online 4 weeks out from the cruise, and just keep checking.... sometimes they assign your cabin number 4 weeks out, and sometimes it's not until the day before the cruise.... so it can be anywhere in there.

We only have done GTA once, and I remember it was like torture waiting to find out what cabin and deck we were on, probably because I'm a total planner, so it was hard not knowing for me, at least. So, it was fun to finally find out!

 

[bellelinus]

Hi all,

I have a question for those of you who have done a Med cruise before (or if you haven't, but want to chime in from research you've done).

We are staying at a hotel near the airport after the cruise for one night and we fly out the day after we get off the ship. So, we won't be in a rush to get to the airport at all once we get off the ship.

I've read that some people pre-book taxi's (or private taxi's/private transportation) so when they get off the ship, the car is waiting and they don't have to wait in a taxi line, etc. But, I've also read that you can just wait for a taxi, but the line can get really long to wait.

Since we won't be in a hurry at all, I'm trying to figure out what is the most cost-effective. Do you know if the price of a taxi that you wait in line for is the same price as if you pre-book a taxi/private car? Or, is the pre-booking a private car more expensive no matter what?

Also, my parents will be with us, and they are staying at the same airport hotel as us and flying out (on a different flight) the next day, too. Since there will be 6 of us wanting to go to the same airport hotel, plus our luggage, if we wait in the taxi line to get a taxi rather than pre-book, are all of those taxi's just 4-door sedans (ie, won't hold 6 passengers), or do they have 6+ passenger taxi's in the taxi line?

If the taxi line only has sedan type cars that won't accommodate more than 4 passengers, then we'd have to get two taxi's (one for my parents and one for our family). I'm guessing in this case, it would be cheaper to pre-book a van that would accommodate all 6 of us.

I have been trying to figure all this out, and I can't quite figure out what is the cheapest option for us.... and we are fine waiting in the taxi line if we needed to, since we won't be in a rush, IF the taxi line is cheaper for all 6 of us than pre-booking our a private taxi/car.

Any thoughts??

Thanks!!

On our previous Med cruise, we just went in the taxi line the morning of debarkation. I know that there are some 6 passenger taxis, you might just have to wait a bit longer, but a taxi will always be less money than pre-booking. Since you aren't in a rush, I would save the money and just go in the taxi line. Ask the dispatcher for a 6 passenger van when you get to the front of the line and the next one is yours.

 

[tajz90]

We have a partner flight thru our reservations. It happens to be the 1st leg from BCN flight home. I can't make seat reservations on United for the flight. Does anyone know why?

 

[LovesToRun]

We have a partner flight thru our reservations. It happens to be the 1st leg from BCN flight home. I can't make seat reservations on United for the flight. Does anyone know why?

So, is the partner flight a partner of United, or it is United you are flying home (which is the partner)? I'm assuming it is a partner of United...

Regardless, there could be a few reasons why this is, that come to my mind.

One reason (which has happened to us before) is the partner flight has not allowed United access to their seat map, and you have to contact the partner airline directly to request seats (find their phone number and call their customer service center, and they can find your reservation, even if you did not book your ticket through their airline).

Another reason is for international flights, depending on which tier level you are (frequent flier level) with the airline, they may not open up the seating chart until 24 hours before the flight. For example, we are flying British Airways, and my husband is Gold with British (which is the top tier level). Because he is Gold, when he books seats even 9 months out, he can select his seats right when he books. But, if you are a lower tier than Gold (like Blue, which is the lowest tier), you can book your ticket 9 months in advanced, BUT you are not able to book your seat until 24 hours before the flights. So, it might be the partner airline you are on has a system like that... if you aren't a high tier with them, they won't let you pick your seat until 24 hours before. BUT, I do know (with British Airways for sure, and possibly other airlines), if you are a low tier and you pay extra money you can book your seat early. My parents are riding British Airways, too, and they are the lowest level tier with them, but they really wanted to have specific seats, so they paid $200 extra when they booked their tickets just so they could pick their seats then, and if they hadn't paid that extra money, they would have not been able to pick their seats until 24 hours before the flight left.

Another reason might be (and this has happened to us before, too)... this is less common, but can happen, is they may still not know which aircraft (ie, 777, 747, 757 or 767, or Airbus.... etc) which will running this particular flight, and if they don't know exactly which aircraft, then they don't have a seating chart yet (because a 777 has a different seating chart than a 747), and it's a lot less hassle for the airline to hold off on people booking seats until they know the type of aircraft rather than let people book seats on a 747 seating chart, and then find it's going to be a 777, and then suddenly the airline is having to move people to different seats (often without their knowledge, which has happened to me before) and then you get upset passengers. But, this is less common, as typically airlines do know which aircraft will be doing that particular route.

There might be other reasons.... but I would start by calling the partner airline directly and talking to a customer service rep, have them look up your reservation in their system and they *hopefully* should be able to tell you why you can't book seats.

Hope this helps. What is the name of partner airline??

 

[LovesToRun]

Hi All,

Two questions.

1)Prior to our Med cruise, we've only used Disney transfers for all of our other Disney Cruises, so this will be the first time we are arriving to port on our own.

How does it work with your luggage when you arrive to port on your own? (ie, when do you drop your luggage off with the luggage crew people... I'm assuming you don't carry your luggage on the ship on your own, only because I've never seen anyone carting suitcases around when they board the ship).

2) For those of you who have been to the Barcelona Terminal, how long (from your experience) did it take you from when you walked into the doors at port to when you actually were checked-in and ready to board? We have an 11:30 AM check-in time, but I was reading through all the info online again, and noticed for Barcelona, it says that the port doors open at 11AM and boarding the ship does not begin until 1PM.

Based off of our experience at Port Canaveral and the LA port (when we've cruise with Disney from there), from when we walk in the doors to go through security to when we are fully checked in, I think the max time for us has been 30 minutes... it always seems to go pretty fast and smooth.

But, I'm wondering if the Barcelona terminal is different (ie, less check-in desks, so check-in may take longer, or the terminal is a lot larger, so takes longer time to get from security to the check-in desks, etc. etc.).

We just don't want to get there at 11:30, and then be all checked in ready to go at 12:00, and then we have to sit around for an hour in crowds of people before waiting for them to even open the doors to the ship (and it'll be longer than an hour wait for us because I know concierge, etc board first, and we are not concierge).

I do realize the earlier you get there, the lower boarding number you get, so that will help you get on the ship faster, but even with the boarding numbers, they seem to only be like 5 minutes apart in boarding times, so it seems to go pretty fast. I just don't want to get checked in and then everyone in port is just waiting to board for an hour because the doors at not even open yet. I like to time it where when we are fully checked in the doors are open, and people are already boarding the ship (because then the port is not AS crazy and crowded because people are leaving the terminal to get on the ship).

Just wondering what people's experiences are with port arrival timing in Barcelona... and, at the end of the day, it really isn't a HUGE deal I mean, if we have to wait around in crowds of people at port, so be it. But, just trying to figure this out to get a better idea.

Thoughts??

Thanks!

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Hi All,

Two questions.

1)Prior to our Med cruise, we've only used Disney transfers for all of our other Disney Cruises, so this will be the first time we are arriving to port on our own.

How does it work with your luggage when you arrive to port on your own? (ie, when do you drop your luggage off with the luggage crew people... I'm assuming you don't carry your luggage on the ship on your own, only because I've never seen anyone carting suitcases around when they board the ship).


2) For those of you who have been to the Barcelona Terminal, how long (from your experience) did it take you from when you walked into the doors at port to when you actually were checked-in and ready to board? We have an 11:30 AM check-in time, but I was reading through all the info online again, and noticed for Barcelona, it says that the port doors open at 11AM and boarding the ship does not begin until 1PM.

Based off of our experience at Port Canaveral and the LA port (when we've cruise with Disney from there), from when we walk in the doors to go through security to when we are fully checked in, I think the max time for us has been 30 minutes... it always seems to go pretty fast and smooth.

But, I'm wondering if the Barcelona terminal is different (ie, less check-in desks, so check-in may take longer, or the terminal is a lot larger, so takes longer time to get from security to the check-in desks, etc. etc.).

We just don't want to get there at 11:30, and then be all checked in ready to go at 12:00, and then we have to sit around for an hour in crowds of people before waiting for them to even open the doors to the ship (and it'll be longer than an hour wait for us because I know concierge, etc board first, and we are not concierge).

I do realize the earlier you get there, the lower boarding number you get, so that will help you get on the ship faster, but even with the boarding numbers, they seem to only be like 5 minutes apart in boarding times, so it seems to go pretty fast. I just don't want to get checked in and then everyone in port is just waiting to board for an hour because the doors at not even open yet. I like to time it where when we are fully checked in the doors are open, and people are already boarding the ship (because then the port is not AS crazy and crowded because people are leaving the terminal to get on the ship).

Just wondering what people's experiences are with port arrival timing in Barcelona... and, at the end of the day, it really isn't a HUGE deal I mean, if we have to wait around in crowds of people at port, so be it. But, just trying to figure this out to get a better idea.

Thoughts??

Thanks!

#1 Yes, the first thing we did when we went to Alaska was drop off our luggage. It was outside the cruise terminal even(that made me a little nervous).

Might want to ask #2 in the Med Cruise Planning thread too. I think there are prior cruisers who monitor that one.