August 7, 2014 4 night Med crusie on the Magic

[Disneymadhouse]

Hi Paula, no we haven't been to PortAventura before, and yes it does look fun! We just wanted to do something before the cruise to make the holiday a bit longer!

Claire

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Hi Paula, no we haven't been to PortAventura before, and yes it does look fun! We just wanted to do something before the cruise to make the holiday a bit longer!

Claire

Oh how lovely what a great idea. Same flight price why not! Any chance of a trip report in your return?

 

[Disneymadhouse]

Oh how lovely what a great idea. Same flight price why not! Any chance of a trip report in your return?

I've never done a TR, but I will think about it, how about that!

Claire

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I've never done a TR, but I will think about it, how about that!

Claire

Why not! If you want to. If not just let me know if you would recommend it or not. Be interested!

 

[janiebubble]

ooh great to see some more people booking. And Paula, great to hear you've had good experiences with Disney cruises as an adult couple ... when we went last time we went with my partners sister, her children and her mother. This time its just the two of us, so expecting a different experience!

 

[minximom]

391 days to go!!!! Lol

 

[janiebubble]

Glad I'm not the only one counting down! I got all excited when we went below 400 days!

 

[JoyB-UK]

Hi guys, in approx two weeks I will be flying to barcelona and a little after that joining the aug 6th four night med cruise. Is there anything that people would like me to try and find out for them? I know our 2014 cruise will be a little different after the refit but if there I anything specific you would like to know I will try and find out.
Joy

 

[minximom]

Hi guys, in approx two weeks I will be flying to barcelona and a little after that joining the aug 6th four night med cruise. Is there anything that people would like me to try and find out for them? I know our 2014 cruise will be a little different after the refit but if there I anything specific you would like to know I will try and find out.
Joy

Hi Joy! Wow lucky you. Have a safe and wonderful trip. Thinking of some qs... I have had loads but can't remember now... Thinking... [A few minutes later]... Ok here goes...

1) are there duty free shops at Barcelona..if so are they any good?

2) are you stopping at Palma De mallorca? If so I would be interested in hearing what you think and recommend.

3) your feel about the mix of guests on the short med cruises.. I.e. Us, English, other European, other

Again have a lovely cruise

 

[JoyB-UK]

Duty free shops - do you mean in the actual port? Airport etc?
Yes we are going to Palma. I will ask about the mixture of passengers, when we went on the 7 night in 2011 it was very much British by a vast majority, the next highest group were Spanish, then other Europeans, then a small number of Americans/Canadians.
Joy

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

ooh great to see some more people booking. And Paula, great to hear you've had good experiences with Disney cruises as an adult couple ... when we went last time we went with my partners sister, her children and her mother. This time its just the two of us, so expecting a different experience!

That's nice you will be able to compare the two experiences! I am getting very excited. But first we have 4 night in Bahamas on 22nd September on The Dream but as we haven't been on the Magic yet and she's due to get a refurb super excited about next year!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Hi guys, in approx two weeks I will be flying to barcelona and a little after that joining the aug 6th four night med cruise. Is there anything that people would like me to try and find out for them? I know our 2014 cruise will be a little different after the refit but if there I anything specific you would like to know I will try and find out.
Joy

Oh exciting! I would like to know if you do the Palo brunch what is it like ( they only do this on day at sea ) , also when did you book your flights and which airline? What airport? Any tips in that would be great. Are you using Disney transport? Are you doing an FE?

Have a great time!

 

[janiebubble]

Duty free shops - do you mean in the actual port? Airport etc?
Yes we are going to Palma. I will ask about the mixture of passengers, when we went on the 7 night in 2011 it was very much British by a vast majority, the next highest group were Spanish, then other Europeans, then a small number of Americans/Canadians.
Joy

that's really interesting, when we did the 7 night in 2011 the overwhelming number of passengers were American, (I remember the cruise director giving us a breakdown and it was something like 1400 were from North America) then the rest were European (mainly British and Spanish). Strange how it can differ from cruise to cruise!

 

[janiebubble]

Oh exciting! I would like to know if you do the Palo brunch what is it like ( they only do this on day at sea ) , also when did you book your flights and which airline? What airport? Any tips in that would be great. Are you using Disney transport? Are you doing an FE?

Have a great time!

when we went in 2011 we flew with Easyjet (Liverpool to Barcelona) as soon as they were released in the Autumn before - we'd booked the cruise in the last week of August - I think the flights came out at the end of September. I'm hoping for something similar this year - we got the flights for under £100 return including luggage which I thought was pretty decent. We didn't use Disney transport - we flew in two days early and had some time in Barcelona, we're hoping to do the same again this time.

The absolute best thing we did was booking a day room at one of the airport hotels coming home. We were off the ship by 8.30am ... our flight wasn't till about 9pm, it allowed us all to have a rest, swim in their outdoor pool and shower and change before the flight. We got really luck and were allocated a room in the executive/club wing, so had a lounge with complimentary snacks and drinks too - with 2 small children it made what could have been a long hot day really pleasurable.

 

[JoyB-UK]

Last time we went in late August so I think that most American schools have started back by then so it might explain why there are fewer from the US.

We haven't booked the Palo brunch or done it before so I can't help with that one, we plan on trying it on the 12 nighter next year.

We have booked Norwegian air from Gatwick in january for a very good price of £310 for 3 people. Not tried them before so I will report back to say what we think.

I haven't booked any transfers, we will get the train and metro to the hotel from the airport, walk to the port, then walk back to the metro for our 2nd hotel after the cruise, then finally train back to the airport. We have done some of this before so we know what to expect.

There is no FE for the cruise, the meet board is very quiet and not enough interest expressed. I did an FE last time and highly recommend it.

Joy

 

[minximom]

Still waiting for airlines to release flights for next August. Have any of you started to look at hotels in Barcelona? Any tips? Roll on 2014 ...I want our FE to be arranged lol

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Yes waiting for flights too we are going to fly in from London that morning. Based on this year BA and Easyjet have early morning flights from Gatwick

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

when we went in 2011 we flew with Easyjet (Liverpool to Barcelona) as soon as they were released in the Autumn before - we'd booked the cruise in the last week of August - I think the flights came out at the end of September. I'm hoping for something similar this year - we got the flights for under £100 return including luggage which I thought was pretty decent. We didn't use Disney transport - we flew in two days early and had some time in Barcelona, we're hoping to do the same again this time.

The absolute best thing we did was booking a day room at one of the airport hotels coming home. We were off the ship by 8.30am ... our flight wasn't till about 9pm, it allowed us all to have a rest, swim in their outdoor pool and shower and change before the flight. We got really luck and were allocated a room in the executive/club wing, so had a lounge with complimentary snacks and drinks too - with 2 small children it made what could have been a long hot day really pleasurable.

Great thanks! We were looking at both BA and Easyjet from Gatwick. We live in Essex so Gatwick good for us. Good idea re day room! They do get you off early. We are going to try and get a flight home lunchtime if we can. We booked the Disney transport there and back. Excited!

 

[JoyB-UK]

We got back from our 4 nighter last night and had a great time. The Magic is still great but starting to show some wear so the refurb will be appreciated.

Hi Joy! Wow lucky you. Have a safe and wonderful trip. Thinking of some qs... I have had loads but can't remember now... Thinking... [A few minutes later]... Ok here goes...

1) are there duty free shops at Barcelona..if so are they any good?

2) are you stopping at Palma De mallorca? If so I would be interested in hearing what you think and recommend.

3) your feel about the mix of guests on the short med cruises.. I.e. Us, English, other European, other

Again have a lovely cruise

There are 2 shops in the port, one just selling wine and the other a variety. No bargains in the wine shop though. We didn't go in the other as I suddenly realised there was no check in queue and ran off to that, sorry. Palma also had duty free available at the port with good prices on wines and spirits.

We went into Palma on the free shuttle bus, Disney doesn't advertise it as they want people to book excursions. But there are plenty of coaches waiting to take you the 2 mile journey to town. It drops off on the seafront outside the cathedral. Palma had lots of good shops, prices were cheaper than Barcelona and it felt a lot more relaxed and safe. We didn't pay to go in anywhere or eat so I don't have any particular recommendations. Free wifi is available in town.

There seemed to be more nationalities and children on this cruise than any other I have been on. There seemed to be more Spanish onboard noticeable because of the many large multi generational families. The Brits were the next largest group, there were a few American/Canadians but not many, quite a few German speakers, Italians, French, a variety of Eastern Europeans and I definitely heard the odd Aussie accent as well. There were many young children, at times you couldn't move for pushchairs in the buffet. At night the adult areas were very quiet.

Hope this helps, can't wait until next year.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We got back from our 4 nighter last night and had a great time. The Magic is still great but starting to show some wear so the refurb will be appreciated.

There are 2 shops in the port, one just selling wine and the other a variety. No bargains in the wine shop though. We didn't go in the other as I suddenly realised there was no check in queue and ran off to that, sorry. Palma also had duty free available at the port with good prices on wines and spirits.

We went into Palma on the free shuttle bus, Disney doesn't advertise it as they want people to book excursions. But there are plenty of coaches waiting to take you the 2 mile journey to town. It drops off on the seafront outside the cathedral. Palma had lots of good shops, prices were cheaper than Barcelona and it felt a lot more relaxed and safe. We didn't pay to go in anywhere or eat so I don't have any particular recommendations. Free wifi is available in town.

There seemed to be more nationalities and children on this cruise than any other I have been on. There seemed to be more Spanish onboard noticeable because of the many large multi generational families. The Brits were the next largest group, there were a few American/Canadians but not many, quite a few German speakers, Italians, French, a variety of Eastern Europeans and I definitely heard the odd Aussie accent as well. There were many young children, at times you couldn't move for pushchairs in the buffet. At night the adult areas were very quiet.

Hope this helps, can't wait until next year.

Oh it's great to hear about your cruise! Thanks for the feedback can't wait for next year!