7/13/13 ~~ Eastern Mediterranean Mouseketeers!

[Disney_fans]

When we were on the Med cruise in 2011 we took our passports everywhere, but I don't recall anyone asking to see them. The cruise director will announce if you need your passport the night before.

We are stationed in the UK and travel a lot. Sometimes we leave our passport in the hotel safe while other times we take it on excursions. I think it's up to your comfort level.

One tip - Disney offers a service where you give them your passport and they will make sure it is stamped at each port.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

We are leaving ours on the ship and taking photocopy with us. It is really hard to cancel and reissue a passport while abroad. I used to work on cruise ships and always carried a photocopy with me and left the passport on the ship. But again it is what you are comfortable with....

 

[Eleblanc]

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!

First the Barcelona terminal is HUGE, so you don't have to be worried about crowds of people, you will have plenty of room. The terminal in Dover was much smaller and we were literally bumping into people waiting to get on.

That being said, the wait time in Dover was much longer, about an hour and a half and we had the first check-in time (whatever that was 4 years ago). Two years ago in Barcelona we again had the first check in time and got on about 45 minutes later. In Barcelona there was entertainment while waiting as well, plus some character appearances for picture opportunities.

 

[Eleblanc]

Our Fish Extender list is set. I know some people are still waiting for room assignments and they will be filled in as they are known. I will also make a FE delivery sheet to give out to everyone on the cruise. I do have a few names on a second list that are interested if we can get enough additional parties signed up for a second group. At this time, I would say those on the sign up sheet on the first page are a group of 25 and a second group (it any) would be another group of however many. If people in the first group of 25 want to join the potential second group as well, please let me know.

Sorry the Secret Mickeys are not done yet. Still awaiting confirmation on one last person so I can set that up. Will do as soon as I get the go ahead on it.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

One tip - Disney offers a service where you give them your passport and they will make sure it is stamped at each port.

Do you have experience doing this with DCL? I would be so happy if this is accurate, but I've read conflicting answers on the main forum on the DIS. I know on the Carribean Disney cruises I've been on, I've had "hit or miss" with leaving my passport to get stamped at guest services. Some cast members told me flat out no, some said sure, no problem, and others said they could try but couldn't guarantee a stamp. I would say I got about 50% of the stamps I attempted to get this way. I would really love to know from someone who has sailed on the Med cruises before, if Guest Services does in fact get passport stamps for you if you want, or if we are on our own to try to get them in port, which not every port has a booth/customs office to even do so.

 

[LovesToRun]

I ran across this article where some tourists got scammed when buying gelato in Rome:

http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/20...-rome-charged-euro64-for-four-ice-creams.html

So, maybe the lesson here is ask what the price of the gelato (or whatever food you are buying) is before you have them scoop it, OR, if it is true (from what the owners of the gelato store said) that the prices were clearly displayed, I guess the lesson is to be observant and look for prices first....

I can tell you, if I bought gelato for 16 Euros, that would have to be some DARN GOOD, OUT OF THIS WORLD gelato!

So, make a mental note of the name of the gelato store and not buy gelato there if you are at the Spanish Steps area!

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

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

You're welcome! Have a great day!

 

[bellelinus]

I ran across this article where some tourists got scammed when buying gelato in Rome:

http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/20...-rome-charged-euro64-for-four-ice-creams.html

So, maybe the lesson here is ask what the price of the gelato (or whatever food you are buying) is before you have them scoop it, OR, if it is true (from what the owners of the gelato store said) that the prices were clearly displayed, I guess the lesson is to be observant and look for prices first....

I can tell you, if I bought gelato for 16 Euros, that would have to be some DARN GOOD, OUT OF THIS WORLD gelato!

So, make a mental note of the name of the gelato store and not buy gelato there if you are at the Spanish Steps area!

Well, I can vouch for this issue - when my middle daughter was 16 she took a study abroad and was in Florence. She asked for a gelato, they handed it to her, she licked it, and then they said it was 20 euro! She learned her lesson - ALWAYS ask and confirm the price before ordering something. Even if the price is listed, it never hurts to confirm the price verbally.

 

[Y-GRO-UP]

When we were on the Med cruise in 2011 we took our passports everywhere, but I don't recall anyone asking to see them. The cruise director will announce if you need your passport the night before.

We are stationed in the UK and travel a lot. Sometimes we leave our passport in the hotel safe while other times we take it on excursions. I think it's up to your comfort level.

One tip - Disney offers a service where you give them your passport and they will make sure it is stamped at each port.

Can anyone expound on this...Disney Passport stamped..my kids would love to get more stamps in their passport.

 

[FloridaMom3461]

Our Fish Extender list is set. I know some people are still waiting for room assignments and they will be filled in as they are known. I will also make a FE delivery sheet to give out to everyone on the cruise. I do have a few names on a second list that are interested if we can get enough additional parties signed up for a second group. At this time, I would say those on the sign up sheet on the first page are a group of 25 and a second group (it any) would be another group of however many. If people in the first group of 25 want to join the potential second group as well, please let me know.

Sorry the Secret Mickeys are not done yet. Still awaiting confirmation on one last person so I can set that up. Will do as soon as I get the go ahead on it.

Thanks so much for all your hard work in organizing the FE. One question: are you planning to assign different days to each cabin or just leave it "free-form"? I've participated in different FE groups that did it each way - just wondering.
Randi

 

[Eleblanc]

Thanks so much for all your hard work in organizing the FE. One question: are you planning to assign different days to each cabin or just leave it "free-form"? I've participated in different FE groups that did it each way - just wondering.
Randi

I honestly can not imagine trying to assign days for people to distribute their FE gifts. I don't want to impose a schedule on people and have to try to work around whatever they might have planned for each day. So it will just be up to everyone to distribute as they please.

I will put together some sort of "cheat sheet" for everyone to use with cabin numbers to carry around when they are out distributing the FE. It might not be a completed list until the cruise because some are still waiting for cabin assignments. I will bring copies to the meet and greet and have some hanging in out in our FE on the ship.

 

[Y-GRO-UP]

i came to the whole "FE" thing...way late. Gonna bring some stuff and make an FE anyway...and who knows.. Still don't know Cabin Number...just know on 6th or 7th

 

[Sox1N04]

Can't wait for this Med cruise a little more than 2 months away!! Just came back from a 4 day on the Dream and all it did was ramp up my excitement for this Med cruise.

Having never been to Europe before and not using Disney transportation for this trip, how difficult is it to get a taxi from our hotel to the port? We are staying at Hotel Regina near Las Ramblas the night before.

Thanks

 

[bellelinus]

I honestly can not imagine trying to assign days for people to distribute their FE gifts. I don't want to impose a schedule on people and have to try to work around whatever they might have planned for each day. So it will just be up to everyone to distribute as they please.

I will put together some sort of "cheat sheet" for everyone to use with cabin numbers to carry around when they are out distributing the FE. It might not be a completed list until the cruise because some are still waiting for cabin assignments. I will bring copies to the meet and greet and have some hanging in out in our FE on the ship.

I agree, on a Med cruise it is hard to assign people days because everyone has different schedules for all those port days. I am willing to participate with the people who wanted to do the FE too late for our cutoff as long as I know the total number by mid June or so. Thanks so much for doing this!!!

 

[bellelinus]

Can't wait for this Med cruise a little more than 2 months away!! Just came back from a 4 day on the Dream and all it did was ramp up my excitement for this Med cruise.

Having never been to Europe before and not using Disney transportation for this trip, how difficult is it to get a taxi from our hotel to the port? We are staying at Hotel Regina near Las Ramblas the night before.

Thanks

I don't know exactly where your hotel is, but you will not have any trouble getting a taxi in Barcelona. We stay at a hotel just north of Placa de Catalunya and there is even a taxi stand across the street from that hotel. So you might want to ask the front desk at your hotel where the nearest taxi stand is, or if they could hail a taxi for you to get to the port.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I honestly can not imagine trying to assign days for people to distribute their FE gifts. I don't want to impose a schedule on people and have to try to work around whatever they might have planned for each day. So it will just be up to everyone to distribute as they please.

I will put together some sort of "cheat sheet" for everyone to use with cabin numbers to carry around when they are out distributing the FE. It might not be a completed list until the cruise because some are still waiting for cabin assignments. I will bring copies to the meet and greet and have some hanging in out in our FE on the ship.

Thank you for doing the "cheat sheet" with the cabin numbers, that makes it so much easier. Also, it helps everyone officially participating to make sure they are gifting to the right cabins. On my Panama Canal cruise which had a large FE group, some people saw the FE's and got excited about them and decided to hang their own makeshift bag out appearing as if they were part of the group. Many of the FE participants went around the decks and just dropped gifts in each FE they passed, instead of using the official list, and then they found out they ran out of gifts because it turned out a lot of the FE's weren't "real" which was a shame, because then some people who did spend the time/money to participate in the FE missed out on gifts. Please everyone, make use of the list to ensure everyone participating is included. Obviously if you have extra that is great and you can then give to those who want to hang a bag who signed up late or who decide to hang a bag up mid-cruise, but its really not fair to take away from those who were officially part of the group. Not saying anyone here would do that on purpose but I just wanted to share my previous experience as a heads up.

With regard to the assigned delivery days, I personally liked my cruises where we had assigned days because it ensured we got gifts every day of the cruise and not a whole lot on just a couple days and then nothing on the others. But, I understand that this cruise is so port intensive that assigned days probably wouldnt work for most of us. Perhaps a middle of the road compromise- since there are 12 nights- maybe divide the group into 3, and say one group delivers anytime between nights 1-4, the second group nights 5-8, and the third group nights 9-12, something like that? So you aren't tied down to one day that may be super busy for you, but instead have a few days, but still ensures that we'll all have FE surprises throughout the duration of the cruise? Would that be feasible?

 

[LovesToRun]

Just checking in with everyone!! The board has been quiet.

Our weather here has been beyond amazingly gorgeous this past week (sunny, blue skies and 70's and 80's) , so been enjoying the weather before the rain comes back (tomorrow the "normal" weather for this time of year comes back... rain/clouds, 50's & 60's).

Just looked at my countdown on my phone for when we leave, and for us, we leave in 52 days (which means we all get on the ship in 63 days)! Cannot believe it!! And, this time of year is super busy with the end of school (not sure about the rest of the USA, but at least here, they seem to cram EVERYTHING in the last 6 weeks of school... projects, field trips, events, and state testing is this week and next week..), so with the next 6 weeks being so busy, those 52 days will go by fast!

Nicole, I'm not in the FE group for this cruise (as much as I would LOVE to be, we just had to decide to not do it due to luggage space), BUT I totally agree with you about how a cheat sheet is SO helpful!! I've been in FE groups where there have been cheat sheets w/ cabin numbers, and where there haven't been cheat sheets, and we just had to go around and find the FE's on our own. The cruises without the cheat sheets were so hard to find all the FE's, and I did distribute all of my FE gifts, but then on our next cruise (which did have a cheat sheet), I realized just like you said that there are people who put out FE's that are NOT in the FE group, so that got me wondering if on the cruise without a cheat sheet if I put a gift in someone's FE that wasn't in our group (which meant someone in our group may not have gotten my FE gift). I never did find out... no one really posted much on that cruise meet after the cruise. But, since then, for cruises without cheat sheets, I just now make up my own (I write down all the cabin numbers participating before we leave so I make sure I get the correct cabins!!). So, that is great you guys will have this "cheat sheet". It's SO helpful!!

And, of course, since I'm not participating, my opinion doesn't matter here, BUT I do love your idea of assigning people a group of "days" for delivering the FE's..... I like that idea, because you are correct that (at least with our experience) some days we'll get TONS of stuff in our FE's and other days, we'll either get nothing or like one small thing. And, on one cruise we went on, there were a lot of people who were doing the FE thing for the very first time, and they were SO excited about it, and so I think since they were so excited to deliver their FE gifts, I think we got about 98% of all of our FE gifts delivered to us within the first 2 days of the cruise, and the rest of the days, either nothing or like one small thing.... So, I think assigning "groups of days" to people is a great idea!! This way, you know you will get FE gifts distributed evenly throughout the cruise, which is really fun!!

It'll be a lot of fun for you all!!! I will really miss doing the FE, but I can live vicariously through all of you who are in the FE group.

Well, DH is out of the country this week for work, so my boys have something planned (they say -- I think DH helped them before he left) for me for mother's day tomorrow.... so we shall see what that is!!

Hope everyone has a good mother's day, whether you are a mom, or celebrating your mother or grandmother, or celebrating friends in your life who are like a mom to you, or celebrating the animals in your life that are your "furry" kids! (we used to have a dog.... he got sick and we had to put him down... hardest thing ever in my whole life to do!, but if anyone asked me how many kids I had, I'd say, "I have 3 boys.... but one of them is furry").

Enjoy your weekend everyone!! We have one more day of sun before the rain hits, so I'm going to enjoy today to the fullest!

 

[bellelinus]

I'll just throw in that whether we divide up the days or not, I am willing to wait and deliver my FE gifts at the end of the cruise (last sea day) since mine is more of a "souvenir" than something you would want to use on the cruise. So regardless, not everyone will deliver in the first part of the cruise. I'm fine with being assigned or not, but I am cautious about giving our FE coordinator any extra work!

 

[Stimpy]

Uh oh...I've never had assigned days for FE. It's just always worked out. We usually give 2-3 things so we go a few times. One of the things we are giving should be given out on one of the first days since its to be used for the cruise. I haven't worked on the other stuff yet though.

 

[Stimpy]

Just saw on the main board that today is the last cruise for the Magic out of Port Caniveral before she heads overseas! It's getting close!