7/13/13 ~~ Eastern Mediterranean Mouseketeers!

[WDW Princess 71]

I agree with the others. We need to have a deadline for joining the FE group.

I also think the current people on the FE list need to be confirmed. We all signed up a long time ago and some might not be on the cruise anymore or not interested in participating anymore.

Ellen

I think reconfirming the current people on the FE list is a great idea. I agree that some may have changed plans or cruises. I know several have chimed in on here and let us know they were cancelling but not everyone may have took the time to do that. Perhaps we could all "reconfirm" the accuracy/current commitment to the FE by highlighting our name in yellow or something on the spreadsheet so its marked as recently reviewed/confirmed?

Would love to see the navigators and all the info you have from the previous cruise. Hope it works out for you and book this one

I would also love to see them if you don't mind scanning them, thanks so much!

 

[ynspire]

Hi FloridaMom3461. Private messages doesn't work for me yet but great idea to have our girls "meet" before the cruise. Switch to email?

 

[smores]

I'm confirming 8516 will be in fe! Awaiting list so I can purchase supplies...

 

[FloridaMom3461]

Hi FloridaMom3461. Private messages doesn't work for me yet but great idea to have our girls "meet" before the cruise. Switch to email?

You can email me at randikarpinia@bellsouth.net

 

[Newfoundland Sailor]

Good point so far that I forgot to mention, I will definitely be setting up a deadline to join the fish extender group. I was thinking about two months before, so that would be about May 13th.

May 13th sounds like a good cut-off date to me. That will give me 6 weeks to get things together.

Meanwhile....I have my alarm set for 1:30am --- gotta get up and get my Palo reservations tonight This is one time when Newfoundland time really doesn't work in your favour.

We've made it to the 90 day mark. I can't wait....vacation time is getting close.

 

[calihannah]

The original idea was to break the fish extenders into groups of 25, but when I last looked at the sign up sheet we had a total of 29 interested parties. There are a few people that have contacted me with interest that have not signed up yet, so I am thinking we could have a total of about 32 in the end. The question then is should we keep it as one group with 32 people, or is that too big of group and we should break it down into two smaller groups of about 16? If we did the two smaller groups people could be in one or both groups.

Haven't read through all the responses, as I'm WAY behind, but I would prefer two smaller groups. My kids like delivering multiple goodies during the trip, and 32 rooms is way too much to manage.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

Just did the on-line check in Got the excursions and port arrival time we wanted
So excited 91 days to go

 

[calihannah]

Online check-in complete here, too. The first 20 minutes or so went smoothly, and we got most of what we wanted -- all of the excursions we were interested in, and Palo Dinner and one of our backup choices for Palo Brunch. No Palo Tea left, and Brunch was very limited. Dinner was also sold out some days.

But after that first 20 minutes...man, their servers and databases were having major problems. I still need to book some additional nursery time, and it has gone from hanging for 5+ minutes at a time (and failing) to refusing to find my reservation. Fun times. Fortunately, it's nothing major -- just some random reservations so we can go listen to the music in the various lounges

We ended up with the following excursions:
Villefranche - Monaco and the Little Train (I have a 6yo and a 2yo, so this sounds great, and nice to start off slow)
La Spezia - adults-only Italian Cooking Adventure (on my birthday, so excited! Still considering a private tour for this day, though...this one: http://www.shoretrips.com/excursion...-tasting-in-chianti-at-castello-di-verrazzano)
Civitavecchia - Italian Countryside and Olive Oil tasting
Athens - Sightseeing and Greek Culinary Presentation (adults only) (I sense a food theme here...)
Kusadasi - private tour (similar to the Turkish Villages and Countryside DCL tour plus Ephesus)
Mykonos - private transfers to Platy Yialos beach
Malta - High Tea at the Palazzo Paraisio

 

[bellelinus]

Hi everyone! We are still on for the FE, but don't have a cabin assignment yet for our GTY. I will update with the cabin number as soon as we have it. I am personally fine with a group of 32 for FE if that's what we have, but will go with the majority decision regardless. I agree that everyone should have to confirm so that we have exact numbers, and that we should set a deadline of 60 days in advance to sign up.

Congrats to everyone who was able to get ressies last night!

 

[Newfoundland Sailor]

I remember last time in the Med (2011), it was my first DCL cruise, and I wish I would have known what tours were still available when I finally got a chance to book. So for my newbies.....this is a synopsis for you

This is correct as of 2:22pm on April 27th. [As we know bookings and cancellations are happening all the time]

Palo Availability
Palo (Brunch for 2)
- No times available

Palo (Dinner for 2)
Almost everything available except:
Day 5, 6, 10 & 12 - Sold out
Day 11 only 8:30 available


Excursions which are no longer available

Villefranche – White River Rafting – Sold Out

La Spezia – Florence & Pisa – Sold out
La Spezia – LS35A CookTor – Sold out
La Spezia – Pisa – Climb the Tower – Sold Out
La Spezia – by Private Vehicle 4 hr Van with Driver – Sold Out

Rome – Jumping Back into Eternal Rome (family & adult departure) – Sold out
Rome - Roman Art – Mosaic Workshop – Sold out
Rome - by Private Vehicle – 9 hour mini bus with Driver – Sold Out
Rome - by Private Vehicle – 9 hour mini bus with Driver & Guide – Sold Out
Rome - by Private Vehicle – 9 hour van with Driver & guide – Sold out

Athens – Acropolis sightseeing and Archeological museum with Lunch – Sold out
Athens – Acropolis Sightseeing and Family Archaeological Excavation – Sold Out
Athens – Acropolis Sightseeing and New Acropolis Museum Featuring Excl. Youth Activity – Sold Out
Athens – Acropolis sightseeing and Yabanaki Beach Club – Sold out
Athens = Athens Acropolis and Sightseeing – Sold out (Adult only is available)
Athens – Athens Sightseeing, Acropolis and New Acropolis Museum with Lunch (Family) – Sold out (Adult only is available)
Athens – by private vehicle 4 hour mini bus with driver – Sold out
Athens – by private vehicle 8 hour mini bus with driver – Sold out
Athens – by private vehicle 8 hour mini bus with driver and guide – Sold out
Athens – by private vehicle 8 hour sedan with driver – Sold out
Athens – Explore Athens on your Own – Sold out

Kusadasi – Archaelogical Quest in St. John’s Basilica and Epheseus – Sold out
Kusadasi – Ephesus and Sirince Village Featuring Excl. Youth Activity – Sold Out
Kusadasi – Exclusive Ephesus with Terrace Houses with Archoeologist Encounter - Sold Out

Mykonos – Delos Island (Family) at 7:45 - Sold Out (Both Adult times are Available and 10:15 Family is available)
Mykonos – Delos Island Featuring Excl Youth Activity – Sold out
Mykonos – Elia Beach – Sold out
Mykonos – Island Drive and Ano Mera Village (both adult & family) – Sold out
Mykonos – MY 23 Resort3 – Sold out (MY22 is available)
Mykonos – Private Boat 4 hour – Sold Out
Mykonos – Private Vehicle 4 hour minivan with Driver – Sold Out
Mykonos – Private Vehicle 8 hour minivan with Driver & Guide – Sold Out

Malta – Blue Grotto Boat Trip & Fishing Village (Adult & Family) – Sold Out
Malta – Cruising on a Chartered Turkish Schooner – Sold out
Malta – Highlights of Malta – Sold out
Malta – Limestone Heritage & Marsaxlokk by Fun Train - Sold out
Malta – Malta by Segway – Sold out


My other frustration last time round was not knowing departure and return times for excursions until I could actually book. So, if anyone wants to know departure times for any of the DCL excursions, let me know and I can go in and check for you.

 

[Amy Fran]

We ended up with the following excursions:
Villefranche - Monaco and the Little Train (I have a 6yo and a 2yo, so this sounds great, and nice to start off slow)
La Spezia - adults-only Italian Cooking Adventure (on my birthday, so excited! Still considering a private tour for this day, though...this one: http://www.shoretrips.com/excursion...-tasting-in-chianti-at-castello-di-verrazzano)
Civitavecchia - Italian Countryside and Olive Oil tasting
Athens - Sightseeing and Greek Culinary Presentation (adults only) (I sense a food theme here...)
Kusadasi - private tour (similar to the Turkish Villages and Countryside DCL tour plus Ephesus)
Mykonos - private transfers to Platy Yialos beach
Malta - High Tea at the Palazzo Paraisio

We'll be on the same tour in Athens! Yay! We already know someone (although our reservation doesn't specify that it's adult only, maybe not)

The other excursions we booked:
Villefranche: Eze, Nice, & French Wines
La Spezia: Cinque Terre Scenic Boat Tour
Civitavecchia: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, & Colosseum (Adult only)
Kusadasi: Ephesian Modus Vivandi
Mykonos: Delos Island (Adult only)
Valletta: Highlights of Malta (Adult only)

I'll be able to complete online check-in once we book our flight. I know, I keep procrastinating that piece!

 

[calihannah]

We'll be on the same tour in Athens! Yay! We already know someone (although our reservation doesn't specify that it's adult only, maybe not)

The other excursions we booked:
Villefranche: Eze, Nice, & French Wines
La Spezia: Cinque Terre Scenic Boat Tour
Civitavecchia: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, & Colosseum (Adult only)
Kusadasi: Ephesian Modus Vivandi
Mykonos: Delos Island (Adult only)
Valletta: Highlights of Malta (Adult only)

I'll be able to complete online check-in once we book our flight. I know, I keep procrastinating that piece!

Amy -- cool!! The Athens one is 18+ (or was it 21?), even though it doesn't specify in the title. We did the one you're doing in Villefranche in 2011, and it was fabulous -- hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Here's a snapshot from the wine cave (with DD2, who was then just shy of 7 months, nearly 2.5 now and just as interested in the wine ):

And of the front of the wine shop that is built above the wine caves:

Really such a fun tour

 

[Disney_fans]

Disney_fans (Michelle, Sheila, Jordan and Cameron) would like to confirm for the FEs. We apologize that we haven't been on the forum in sometime, but we were transferred from Colorado to the UK in the Fall. We've been busy settling in here and exploring Europe. We also just returned from Spring Break in Morocco - I had to get up at 4am to book our excursions. The Eternal Rome and Athens sightseeing with Archeological museum were sold out, so we had to go with our second choices, but we got everything else we wanted. Looks like we'll see a couple of you on the Cinque Terre tour and the Ephesian Modus Vivandi.

 

[Sox1N04]

We'll be on the Gozo Experience too!! Was very happy to get it Saturday at midnight when booking opened up for us Silver members.

 

[LovesToRun]

Hi all!!

We just got back late last night! It was our first time on the Fantasy, and it was definitely a different experience than the classic ships for sure!

I do know after this past week, my heart truly is with the smaller classic ships! (Can't wait to be on the Magic this summer in the Med!)

BUT, we had a great time... we enjoyed all of the adult only areas!! Amazingly, they were hardly ever crowded... we were really surprised at that!! We hit the adult only lounges every evening for a drink and just some "adult only" time, and sometimes we were the only people in the lounge! And, I was in love with the deck 13 adult only area (I have already forgotten the name of that area)... with the fountain you can sit in, and the shaded and sun areas in the front of the ship. LOVED that area and it was rarely crowded.... not even on sea days! So, those areas were our highlights.

The dining rooms were beautiful!! We got lucky with the Royal Palace dining room and our table was in the "prince and princess" room, which is a small room inside the dining room. That was SO nice!! It was quiet and just a more intimate atmosphere compared to the rest of the dining room.

Ship was beautiful, so clean, of course, top notch Disney customer service.

But, for me, it was just TOO big and too busy.... just too much going on all the time, too many people (other than the adult only areas), the kids clubs were SOOOO crowded and my boys actually didn't enjoy them as much (which is so unusual because we usually have to PULL them away from the clubs, but this time, we had to ask them to go to the clubs, and they had NO problems leaving when we said it was time to leave, and toward the end of the week, they started just asking us if they could just stay in the cabin while we went out to hang out in the adult only areas rather than go to the kids clubs). But, don't get me wrong, they did like them, I just wouldn't say they LOVED them like they do the classic ships, only because they were so crowded with kids.

Also, my son who loves basketball was disappointed that the basketball court was closed at 6 PM (which is a great time to play because it's cooler then), but I understand why.... because of Palo and Remy. But, it was disappointing to him.

We LOVED the putt putt golf!!!! We played SOOO many times. Our kids could NOT get enough of that.

The Aqua Duck was awesome!!!! But, we only went on the port days (we got back to ship early when there were no to very little lines) or at night when there were no lines). Didn't even attempt the aqua duck on sea days.

Loved Zip-Lining at Puerto Rico!!!! AWESOME shore excursion for anyone who likes an adventure. Highly recommend it. A highlight of our trip!

The food on the ship..... honestly, I'd say "so-so". I actually think the food on the Magic and Wonder is better. I'm not sure why this would be the case because it's all Disney. But, I can't say I was "wow'd" with any dish in the main dining room. We did go to Palo and LOVED it as usual!! We requested a window table and went at sunset on a sea day!! The view was breathtaking!! Loved Palo.

Oh, and LOVED Meridian.... LOVED LOVE LOVED that place!!! Beautiful!! Our other favorite lounge/bar was Skyline! Also, the champagne bar... I love champagne!!

The stateroom was no different (size/layout-wise) than the classic ships, BUT I swear the walls are thinner! There was so much more noise, I felt. I could hear one set of neighbors on one side snoring at night (seriously!), and the other set of neighbors (with the connecting door) they were not "noisy" by any means, but we could just hear them talking, we could hear their kids talking, we could hear the doors shutting.... just heard a lot more noise. We kept our veranda door open a lot to just drown out the noise, which was really nice!! We love the fresh air, but at night, we kept our veranda door shut, and the noise was just high... it was hard to get to sleep sometimes. Next time we go on the Fantasy, we'll bring a white noise maker with us to drown out cabin noise from neighbors.

Overall, I still love the classic ships more, but the Fantasy was fun. But, my heart will always be with the Magic and Wonder! Much more relaxing to me...

And, we surprised our boys and went to WDW right after we got off the ship for just 2 days. The boys were soooo surprised! They had no idea. We really lucked out in that we went there in between crowded weeks... there were hardly any crowds! In 2 days (not even full days... we pretty much were in the parks a total of 12 hours) we covered 3 parks (Epcot, Hollywood, and Magic Kingdom), and we went on 28 rides! With the exception of a few of the REALLY popular rides, most lines were only 10-15 minutes long, and we got fast passes to the popular rides with longer waits. It was awesome!

We stayed at the Beach Club, so it was a great location to get to parks fast.

Well, that is a summary...

Now, next trip! Our Med cruise/Europe!! SO excited!

Oh, and my parents were able to get the shore excursions they wanted this past weekend (they are silver), and they were able to book Palo! I'm relieved!

Now, I'll have to catch up on all the posts from the past week here.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

We registered today. No excurisions. My mom wanted morning Delos but it was gone.

 

[FloridaMom3461]

Hi all,

I have confirmed with DCL Function requests that we will have one of the lounges reserved from 2:30pm to 3:30pm on embarkation day. The confirmed location will not be made until 30 days before the cruise; however, the time is confirmed. For those also on our group Facebook page, I've created an event as well.

Note that the mandatory drill is at 3:45pm by the way.

I was thinking of putting together something we could all have so during the cruise we can identify other disboard/facebook folks. If you think it is a good idea, would you prefer a plastic bracelet band, a label for the lanyard holders, or something else?

best wishes,
Randi

 

[carolplymartin]

Hello! Thanks for adding us to the Roll Call!
Disney Name - carolplymartin
DW (Carol), DH (Marty), DD (Savannah 13), DD (Brooke 8)
From Dallas, TX
2nd Dining
Yes, FE & SM

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Hi all,

I have confirmed with DCL Function requests that we will have one of the lounges reserved from 2:30pm to 3:30pm on embarkation day. The confirmed location will not be made until 30 days before the cruise; however, the time is confirmed. For those also on our group Facebook page, I've created an event as well.

Note that the mandatory drill is at 3:45pm by the way.

I was thinking of putting together something we could all have so during the cruise we can identify other disboard/facebook folks. If you think it is a good idea, would you prefer a plastic bracelet band, a label for the lanyard holders, or something else?

best wishes,
Randi

Just voted on Facebook. I like the bracelet idea and a label, so I voted for both- but my top choice is definitely bracelets if we can only do one. We did them on my PC cruise in 2011 in the lime green DIS color and it was so fun to recognize everyone wearing them.

 

[Amy Fran]

I was thinking of putting together something we could all have so during the cruise we can identify other disboard/facebook folks. If you think it is a good idea, would you prefer a plastic bracelet band, a label for the lanyard holders, or something else?

On our last cruise, someone made buttons for the Dis group and we love, love, loved them! Made it SO easy to recognize fellow disers and start a conversation! The buttons were nice because you could pin them to your shirt or lanyard or camera bag, whatever. Honestly, I don't like wearing bracelets of any kind but won't refuse to if that's what everyone decides on.

BTW, my husband and I decided we are going to participate in the FE. I added myself to the chart tonight! We were concerned about luggage space & weight as well as not having time to make the FE we want to, but we decided we'd miss it too much if we didn't participate!