Back to the Med in 2013! More planning links added post 1

[MinnieDiva]

Originally Posted by mindelmouse

Our new luggage came yesterday. Our new firepit (cost us $20..had lots of Kohl's cash) came today....we'll have fun with it when you are all out here...

Mwahahahaha! Here I am again! But you're right...probably won't hear from me again until Friday...11 hour shifts are pretty well time-consuming!

And how is said luggage? Worth it's weight in Groupon?

And can't wait to see the fire pit. There's one in our future when the whole yard project is complete. Sean and some of his buddies are working on a side/back yard overhaul. The cement footer is curing and the retaining wall blocks get delivered (and installed?) on thursday. I, however, will be at work.

I showed Sean the tour website tonight and he's all for it. Sent it to dad as well, and briefly spoke to him earlier, but he hadn't yet perused it. But, I'll be t he's on board. Now, to email and get some info...

[mindelmouse]

Originally Posted by MinnieDiva

Mwahahahaha! Here I am again! But you're right...probably won't hear from me again until Friday...11 hour shifts are pretty well time-consuming!

And how is said luggage? Worth it's weight in Groupon?

DH was very happy with it.


And can't wait to see the fire pit. There's one in our future when the whole yard project is complete. Sean and some of his buddies are working on a side/back yard overhaul. The cement footer is curing and the retaining wall blocks get delivered (and installed?) on thursday. I, however, will be at work.

I showed Sean the tour website tonight and he's all for it. Sent it to dad as well, and briefly spoke to him earlier, but he hadn't yet perused it. But, I'll be t he's on board. Now, to email and get some info...

So consumate planner....DH was laughing because you told him he was overplanning your trip for August...overplanning...really? From you? He's consumed with the food aspect...agreed....he's actually trying to make sure that visually you have a good time, since he knows your love of picture taking....Ok...defending DH is done...momentary lapse...

[MinnieDiva]

Originally Posted by mindelmouse

So consumate planner....DH was laughing because you told him he was overplanning your trip for August...overplanning...really? From you? He's consumed with the food aspect...agreed....he's actually trying to make sure that visually you have a good time, since he knows your love of picture taking....Ok...defending DH is done...momentary lapse...

He's over feeding me. I'm full and I haven't even arrived. And if you're gonna make fun of me I'm not gonna tell you what the Malta people said! Pppbbbbbtttttt!

[mindelmouse]

Originally Posted by MinnieDiva

He's over feeding me. I'm full and I haven't even arrived. And if you're gonna make fun of me I'm not gonna tell you what the Malta people said! Pppbbbbbtttttt!

Be like that No biggie...you know me....just tell me where I have to be and what time to be there...it's all good..

[DisneyOHFan]

There was a question on another thread and since some of you have done the Med cruise before, hopefully, you can answer.

There are a couple of us that are trying to catch flights that leave betweekn 11:40-11:55 on deparkation day. Do you think this is do-able? According to Disney, they don't recommend taking Disney transfers if your flight is before 12:30 and use a private service (or taxi) insteand.

Thank you for any insight you can give.

[mindelmouse]

Originally Posted by DisneyOHFan

There was a question on another thread and since some of you have done the Med cruise before, hopefully, you can answer.

There are a couple of us that are trying to catch flights that leave betweekn 11:40-11:55 on deparkation day. Do you think this is do-able? According to Disney, they don't recommend taking Disney transfers if your flight is before 12:30 and use a private service (or taxi) insteand.

Thank you for any insight you can give.

I think it's doable. We were off the ship by 9 am and we were one of the last off. I would however arrange private transportation to the airport. If you wait online for a taxi - it could take 1-2 hours. We were waiting about an hour when my husband found a private service to take us to our hotel. We probably were a good hour away from getting a taxi at that point.

[DisneyOHFan]

Originally Posted by mindelmouse

I think it's doable. We were off the ship by 9 am and we were one of the last off. I would however arrange private transportation to the airport. If you wait online for a taxi - it could take 1-2 hours. We were waiting about an hour when my husband found a private service to take us to our hotel. We probably were a good hour away from getting a taxi at that point.

Thank you so much for the reply. Do you recall the names of any private services?

[mindelmouse]

No sorry. We never needed a private service because we stayed an extra day. We found the guy we used hangong.in the lot

[MinnieDiva]

Originally Posted by DisneyOHFan

There was a question on another thread and since some of you have done the Med cruise before, hopefully, you can answer.

There are a couple of us that are trying to catch flights that leave betweekn 11:40-11:55 on deparkation day. Do you think this is do-able? According to Disney, they don't recommend taking Disney transfers if your flight is before 12:30 and use a private service (or taxi) insteand.

Thank you for any insight you can give.

I went back and looked at the navigators, and they were asking for those with flight time before 10:30 to come to guest services with tickets or proof of times. I figure that by doing so, they were the 1st off the ship once it was cleared, but there was no indication whatsoever whether or not there was any Disney transfer involved. First off the ship would mean first in line for a taxi, I guess. Hopefully someone will pipe up that was actually in this situation.

[DisneyOHFan]

Originally Posted by MinnieDiva

I went back and looked at the navigators, and they were asking for those with flight time before 10:30 to come to guest services with tickets or proof of times. I figure that by doing so, they were the 1st off the ship once it was cleared, but there was no indication whatsoever whether or not there was any Disney transfer involved. First off the ship would mean first in line for a taxi, I guess. Hopefully someone will pipe up that was actually in this situation.

Yikes, 10:30 - that would send me over the moon with stress, but it is making me feel better about the 11:40 time. Thank you for checking.

[MinnieDiva]

And Sean likes it, so I guess it's a keeper! It is far lighter than the previous one, and I was able to pack all my camera gear in it but one lens, and that lens could have gone in the top pouch area had I put it there. The iPad fits, but it's far from ideal. I'm thinking that that perfect bag is just not out there. Were I to take the iPad out of it's case, it might fit in the hydration area, but I'm not wanting to do that...Here's some pics:

Much better for my torso:



And Sean's:





It took some finagling to get the wide angle lens to fit properly. I'm thinking that whoever designed this wasn't obsessed with this lens the way I am....:



I'd stolen the inserts from my Lowepro bag to get the size I wanted. In this next pic, the 55-25 is in the back by itself,:



But I was able to squeeze in the flash underneath it (just to see if it would work, I rarely use it and usually don't feel the need to bring it):



And to the right of the camera body is the 18-55 and on the left is my camera cleaning kit:



Little flappy do-dad under the cover for SD cards and whatnot:



And I ended up putting the battery charger and the filter holder (that I had to fold up to get it in there) in here:



The iPad fit in the top area, but sits at an angle wedged in there:



There's more than enough space in there for some 12-oz water bottles, hand sanitizer, travel toilet paper, or whatever else you might want to ferry around.

I didn't take a pic of Sean bring to access it from the side , but he seemed pleased. If I were to pack it the way I'd travel to Europe with it, I think I'd only bring the wide angle and the 55-250. Fully loaded, accessing the camera regularly would be tedious, but if the intent is to bring it on the airplane and then switch out lenses day to day on the cruise leaving the ones you wouldn't need in the safe, it would work fine. If, someday, the camera fairy blesses me with a 70-200, there is room for it. And, in bags, the other lenses could be in the space where the iPad went.

LOL...Sean kept asking me if I was happy with the bag. I asked him "are you going to be carrying it and not complaining?", to which he replied yes, so I respond with "then I'm happy".

[MinnieDiva]

Originally Posted by DisneyOHFan

Yikes, 10:30 - that would send me over the moon with stress, but it is making me feel better about the 11:40 time. Thank you for checking.

Me too! The last thing I want after a fantastic vacation is to ruin it with stress about getting to the airport!

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

WOW! You guys are so organized. I just spent some time reading through this thread....

We are on the 6/1 (I think that's the date LOL!) sailing. using DVC points and didn't have enough for the longer cruises, plus we have done a lot of those ports on another cruise or on other vacations.

I know that in "Florence" (not that we are near Florence) we are probably doing a DIY tour of the Cinque Terre (if I spelled that right) We have missed that on both of our earlier Italy trips so it's on the list (and the main reason I conned my mother into agreeing to do this)

Booked some of her airfare today. We are flying into London for a week before the cruise, spending a few days there and then heading to Barcelona to tour it. I have her Business seats from her home to London and Barcelona to her home. My seats... well this took more miles then it should have so I am holding. Mine will be low mile seats (actually I will monitor her flights every few days too and if I can get them at the "cheap" rates" then I can just rebook. I have enough status that I don't have to pay for those changes)

But I have not even started thinking about hotels. LOL! (We will rent an apt in London.) I did see the apartment rental options in Barcelona and may look into that option too...

[MinnieDiva]

Originally Posted by OrangeCountyCommuter

WOW! You guys are so organized. I just spent some time reading through this thread....

We are on the 6/1 (I think that's the date LOL!) sailing. using DVC points and didn't have enough for the longer cruises, plus we have done a lot of those ports on another cruise or on other vacations.

I know that in "Florence" (not that we are near Florence) we are probably doing a DIY tour of the Cinque Terre (if I spelled that right) We have missed that on both of our earlier Italy trips so it's on the list (and the main reason I conned my mother into agreeing to do this)

Booked some of her airfare today. We are flying into London for a week before the cruise, spending a few days there and then heading to Barcelona to tour it. I have her Business seats from her home to London and Barcelona to her home. My seats... well this took more miles then it should have so I am holding. Mine will be low mile seats (actually I will monitor her flights every few days too and if I can get them at the "cheap" rates" then I can just rebook. I have enough status that I don't have to pay for those changes)

But I have not even started thinking about hotels. LOL! (We will rent an apt in London.) I did see the apartment rental options in Barcelona and may look into that option too...

Organized? That may be the nicest way of saying absolutely nuts I've ever heard! Lololol!

We LOVED Cinque Terre! So very beautiful, picturesque.....insert all amazing adjectives here! Sigh.......so much to see.....

That would be so fun to do London before! Sean's already pushing it in terms of annual leave. He's already going to have to finagle stuff....

Which Orange county? CA or FL??

[mindelmouse]

Originally Posted by MinnieDiva

Organized? That may be the nicest way of saying absolutely nuts I've ever heard! Lololol!

We LOVED Cinque Terre! So very beautiful, picturesque.....insert all amazing adjectives here! Sigh.......so much to see.....

That would be so fun to do London before! Sean's already pushing it in terms of annual leave. He's already going to have to finagle stuff....

Which Orange county? CA or FL??

There's also an Orange County in NY