Coffee on the Verandah -The Last Slide, Recap & Souvies 5/29 - Link to Aulani TR 5/31

[Poolrat]

By the way, I can't post this on my own TR as an update (yet) because my wife will see it...but our wait list came through for Aulani!

We got into a 1-bedroom island-garden view villa. My wife and I were just in the process of looking for a different place to stay and were ready to give up on it when we got the call. Her birthday is next month so I'm not going to say anything about it until then.

Congrats. I love that you are going to surprise her with it.

 

[englishrose47]

I think I will not try the Aquaduck !!!! I have experienced "Stuck in an elevator " and do not want "Stuck in a Duck" added to my list of adventures !!!Do they have the menu anywhere for the pirates dinner , and which of the 3 Dream restaurants did you like the best !!! ?? Do you get a choice as to which reastaurant you do twicw on the 4 day cruise ?? Okay 'nuff questions for now !!!

 

[eandesmom]

I think I will not try the Aquaduck !!!! I have experienced "Stuck in an elevator " and do not want "Stuck in a Duck" added to my list of adventures !!!Do they have the menu anywhere for the pirates dinner , and which of the 3 Dream restaurants did you like the best !!! ?? Do you get a choice as to which reastaurant you do twicw on the 4 day cruise ?? Okay 'nuff questions for now !!!

As long as you don't go solo, you'd be fine! You can request your rotation so you get a certain restaurant twice, that is what we did. For me, I'd probably say Royal Palace was my fav, followed by Animators and then Enchanted Garden.

Allears does have the pirate menu online

http://allears.net/cruise/ships/dream/dining/menus/pirates.htm

 

[eandesmom]

Quick update with some breaking news.

It's a bit of a long shot that we can pull this off but I moved our 2014 dummy cruise booking to one we really hope we can do. There are a lot of moving pieces that may or may not allow this to work out but I'm sure hoping it does!

We are currently booked on a ....

9-Night Mediterranean Cruise on Disney Magic!

Departs from: Venice, Italy

Ports of Call:
Katakolon, Greece
Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
Rhodes, Greece (Greek Isles)
Mykonos, Greece
Venice, Italy



It could be 4 of us, or possibly just 2! Moving pieces are $$ (of course), other vacation plans (hoping for an adult only Australia trip but I think that's more likely for 2015) and kids schedules. Time will tell but we may well be celebrating a big birthday for Jeff in Greece!

 

[KatMark]

Quick update with some breaking news.

It's a bit of a long shot that we can pull this off but I moved our 2014 dummy cruise booking to one we really hope we can do. There are a lot of moving pieces that may or may not allow this to work out but I'm sure hoping it does!

We are currently booked on a ....

9-Night Mediterranean Cruise on Disney Magic!

Departs from: Venice, Italy

Ports of Call:
Katakolon, Greece
Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
Rhodes, Greece (Greek Isles)
Mykonos, Greece
Venice, Italy



It could be 4 of us, or possibly just 2! Moving pieces are $$ (of course), other vacation plans (hoping for an adult only Australia trip but I think that's more likely for 2015) and kids schedules. Time will tell but we may well be celebrating a big birthday for Jeff in Greece!

Sounds awfully exciting.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Exciting news! I've envious because I've always wanted to visit Australia.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Woohoo!
We want to go mediterranean someday (maybe for my big one), so I'm glad they are offering some alternate itineraries. I might need to book a dummy one while were on the Alaska cruise this summer anyway. I've got another 5 years until I really planned on it, but who knows?
I'd also like to do the Eastern on the Fantasy.

You guys sound like us with lots of places to go!

 

[Flossbolna]

Exciting news on the Venice cruise!! I like the ports on that cruise very much.

Just promise me to NOT linger in the town of Piraeus! We stayed there one night in one of the nicest hotels there before taking a ferry to an island and not only did Katharina find a cockroach in the shower in the morning, she also got served "steamed toast" and we were woken up in the middle of the night by the night concierge telling us to be quiet as other guests had complained about the noise we were making. I still remember Katharina picking up the phone and just saying over and over again: "But we didn't do anything!". The rest of Piraeus was as wonderful as that hotel. Athens on the other hand is very much worth a visit!! The Akropolis is a spectacular sight and I really enjoyed the Funicular on of the mountains.

 

[eandesmom]

Sounds awfully exciting.

I am very excited and hope it comes to pass. Awfully fun to think about.

Exciting news! I've envious because I've always wanted to visit Australia.

Jeff has been, I have not. We will go, it's a "when" not and "if". Australia is tied to T graduating from college. If he is on time there is a possibility we can swing it for 2014 but it's much more likely for 2015. Question is if we can pull of both the big family NYE trip and Greece within a span of 7 months. That's a little tight.

Woohoo!
We want to go mediterranean someday (maybe for my big one), so I'm glad they are offering some alternate itineraries. I might need to book a dummy one while were on the Alaska cruise this summer anyway. I've got another 5 years until I really planned on it, but who knows?
I'd also like to do the Eastern on the Fantasy.

You guys sound like us with lots of places to go!

I was very excited to see this offering. There are only 2 sailings with it and Jeff honestly wasn't jazzed about any of the other med options (the 12 night is out of our reach so I didn't even show it to him lol) besides the 4 night offering and that is well...only 4 nights! It is exactly why I booked the dummy last summer so I'd have the option. It saves so much $$ by doing it, it really is worth it and since you can keep sliding it, it's a very low risk option to have in your back pocket.

I think what may end up happening is Greece for Jeff's big one and Ireland for mine.

Australia would fall in the middle of those trips though so who knows. I'll be shocked if we pull all that off but since both boys will be doing Ireland, it's pretty silly for the 2 of us not to go.

Exciting news on the Venice cruise!! I like the ports on that cruise very much.

Just promise me to NOT linger in the town of Piraeus! We stayed there one night in one of the nicest hotels there before taking a ferry to an island and not only did Katharina find a cockroach in the shower in the morning, she also got served "steamed toast" and we were woken up in the middle of the night by the night concierge telling us to be quiet as other guests had complained about the noise we were making. I still remember Katharina picking up the phone and just saying over and over again: "But we didn't do anything!". The rest of Piraeus was as wonderful as that hotel. Athens on the other hand is very much worth a visit!! The Akropolis is a spectacular sight and I really enjoyed the Funicular on of the mountains.

I have actually been to Venice(2x), Rhodes and Athens before. It's funny, we must have stayed somewhere in Athens but for the life of me I can't recall. I don't think we were originally scheduled to spend the night there but I think we had to due to a ferry strike. It's all a bit fuzzy. Post college backpacking trip lol. I don't think we were delayed more than a day though. What in the world is steamed toast?

I did have a scary experience on a Greek Ferry and then on Ios but all of it was SO long ago it will seem new to me. It will all be new to Jeff and overall I am very pleased with the ports. I'd wanted to go to Mykanos before but we had to choose and ended up with Santorini instead.

 

[Flossbolna]

Steamed toast was speciality that was unknown to us before that trip, too. When we were at breakfast we each got two slices of toast, my parents and I got perfectly normal crispy slices. Katharina's were warm, but also slightly moist and not at all crispy. As if they had warmed them with hot steam. We had no idea how that could have happened and she did not eat those slices...

That trip was quite spectacular as so many funny things happened that we all still love to talk about today. We were staying in friends' (he is Greek) vacation home on one of the Cycladic islands (Syros) and one evening we were supposed to go out for dinner. Since the first evening we dared to show up at a quarter to 8 pm and the whole restaurant was upset that people arrived sooo much too early for dinner, we had decided to wait until 9pm or so before we would head out. When it was 9pm I was famished but the rest of the family had been snacking the whole evening and decided that they did not want to head out that late anymore. I got into quite a fit (there might have been some tears) as I was sooo hungry that the rest of the family started to quickly assemble something to eat for me. My father - trying to lighten the mood - was going to get some tomatos and while doing that started to sing " Tomato, tomato, where are you?" After he repeated that line three times it suddenly knocked on the door! And we all shouted out: The tomato is at the door! But it turned out to be friends of our friends, who were Greek, did not speak a single word of English, only the 11 year old son had learned some English in school. And she spoke some Italian which she used to communicate with my father who speaks French. It turned out that they wanted to invite us to lunch for the coming Sunday. We happily accepted the invitation and since that Sunday was Palm Sunday for the Greek orthodox it was a day of fasting, which meant no meat. But we were treated to about 10 different fish dishes, mainly grilled. My mother hates fish and this was the only time I ever saw her eat fish. They had a huge lobster like animal (wikipedia seems to call it spiny lobster?) which was surprisingly tasty and the only time I ever enjoyed a shellfish. It was quite an experience! And the best part is that the whole family kept a trip journal together which my parents typed into the computer (using different fonts for the different authors) and put it together with pictures from that trip. The perfect memory....

Sorry that got longer than I wanted, just thinking about Greek isles brings back so many memories of fun stories!

 

[eandesmom]

Steamed toast was speciality that was unknown to us before that trip, too. When we were at breakfast we each got two slices of toast, my parents and I got perfectly normal crispy slices. Katharina's were warm, but also slightly moist and not at all crispy. As if they had warmed them with hot steam. We had no idea how that could have happened and she did not eat those slices...

If the bread had freezer burn, it could happen. It happened to half of Evan's toaster waffle the other day (and became a reminder of WHY you seal up such things well before putting them back in the freezer).

We had an old toaster here at the office that would do that one one side of the bread without fail but not the other. It appeared to be a setting issue but for the life of me I could never figure it out.

That trip was quite spectacular as so many funny things happened that we all still love to talk about today. We were staying in friends' (he is Greek) vacation home on one of the Cycladic islands (Syros) and one evening we were supposed to go out for dinner. Since the first evening we dared to show up at a quarter to 8 pm and the whole restaurant was upset that people arrived sooo much too early for dinner, we had decided to wait until 9pm or so before we would head out. When it was 9pm I was famished but the rest of the family had been snacking the whole evening and decided that they did not want to head out that late anymore. I got into quite a fit (there might have been some tears) as I was sooo hungry that the rest of the family started to quickly assemble something to eat for me. My father - trying to lighten the mood - was going to get some tomatos and while doing that started to sing " Tomato, tomato, where are you?" After he repeated that line three times it suddenly knocked on the door! And we all shouted out: The tomato is at the door! But it turned out to be friends of our friends, who were Greek, did not speak a single word of English, only the 11 year old son had learned some English in school. And she spoke some Italian which she used to communicate with my father who speaks French. It turned out that they wanted to invite us to lunch for the coming Sunday. We happily accepted the invitation and since that Sunday was Palm Sunday for the Greek orthodox it was a day of fasting, which meant no meat. But we were treated to about 10 different fish dishes, mainly grilled. My mother hates fish and this was the only time I ever saw her eat fish. They had a huge lobster like animal (wikipedia seems to call it spiny lobster?) which was surprisingly tasty and the only time I ever enjoyed a shellfish. It was quite an experience! And the best part is that the whole family kept a trip journal together which my parents typed into the computer (using different fonts for the different authors) and put it together with pictures from that trip. The perfect memory....

Sorry that got longer than I wanted, just thinking about Greek isles brings back so many memories of fun stories!

Fun times! I absolutely love those kinds of memories.

Somehow I thought your lovely lunch was then going to include tomatoes!

 

[jedijill]

So jealous! Venice is one of my favorite cities in the world and I would love to do the Greek Islands. I was stationed in Northern Greece when I was in the military and just ate up the history of the area. I lucked into a last minute GTY rate in 2010 on an 11 night Disney Med cruise and I doubt I would ever get a deal like that again. I really hope it works out for you!

Jill in CO

 

[eandesmom]

So jealous! Venice is one of my favorite cities in the world and I would love to do the Greek Islands. I was stationed in Northern Greece when I was in the military and just ate up the history of the area. I lucked into a last minute GTY rate in 2010 on an 11 night Disney Med cruise and I doubt I would ever get a deal like that again. I really hope it works out for you!

Jill in CO

I saw you got the Southern booked yesterday on the 1st day thread Very cool! That is going like hotcakes.

I hope it works out. It is pricey, no doubt. I did look at it though and the crazy thing is it's actually about the same (pp/per day) as what we paid for the Alaska Wonder in 2011, it's just 2 days longer. The 4 night Dream was still more expensive on the pp/per day side...but we also were in a higher cat stateroom. I booked 5C as I just don't see K being able to make it, hopefully I won't regret that but it's so far out I just didn't want to tie up more deposit than that either. It may not sell as fast simply as it's hidden due to glitch in the site so I will be watching prices.

Although I've been before...really...it was in HS and then just after college. Going now, as an adult, with Jeff would be so completely different and it so exciting. The 7 day med is a much better deal but we didn't like the ports nearly as much.

 

[TeresaNJ]

I don't travel to the TR Board very often, so just read the first installment of your trip report, meeting you & your family! Got me hooked! Can't wait to read more.

 

[MeMom]

We are currently booked on a ....

9-Night Mediterranean Cruise on Disney Magic!


Time will tell but we may well be celebrating a big birthday for Jeff in Greece!

How very cool!

 

[eandesmom]

I don't travel to the TR Board very often, so just read the first installment of your trip report, meeting you & your family! Got me hooked! Can't wait to read more.

Hi and So happy to have you here! Look at all the pretty tags you have

We are only a little more than half way through so plenty still to come.

How very cool!

Thanks! I am super excited. It is a long shot but awfully fun to dream about.

 

[norybell]

All caught up! Looks like it was a great day, particularly brunch, the lounge, & the solo time. Looking forward to reading all about your CC day...hope it lives up to the E's expectations!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[jedijill]

I saw you got the Southern booked yesterday on the 1st day thread Very cool! That is going like hotcakes.

I hope it works out. It is pricey, no doubt. I did look at it though and the crazy thing is it's actually about the same (pp/per day) as what we paid for the Alaska Wonder in 2011, it's just 2 days longer. The 4 night Dream was still more expensive on the pp/per day side...but we also were in a higher cat stateroom. I booked 5C as I just don't see K being able to make it, hopefully I won't regret that but it's so far out I just didn't want to tie up more deposit than that either. It may not sell as fast simply as it's hidden due to glitch in the site so I will be watching prices.

Although I've been before...really...it was in HS and then just after college. Going now, as an adult, with Jeff would be so completely different and it so exciting. The 7 day med is a much better deal but we didn't like the ports nearly as much.

I'm super excited about the Southern itineraries. Something different and cheaper than the Fantasy Eastern I moved from May.

If you need a good hotel in Venice, I stayed at an awesome B&B right off St Mark's Square....it's family run and such a cool place. One of the owners looks a lot like Johnny Depp...and he cooks! http://www.locandaorseolo.com/

Jill in CO

 

[eandesmom]

All caught up! Looks like it was a great day, particularly brunch, the lounge, & the solo time. Looking forward to reading all about your CC day...hope it lives up to the E's expectations!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Hi Nory!!! It was a great day all around. I don't know that I could do a ton of at sea days, we are a bit to go go go go for that but oh they are lovely once in a while!

I'm super excited about the Southern itineraries. Something different and cheaper than the Fantasy Eastern I moved from May.

If you need a good hotel in Venice, I stayed at an awesome B&B right off St Mark's Square....it's family run and such a cool place. One of the owners looks a lot like Johnny Depp...and he cooks! http://www.locandaorseolo.com/

Jill in CO

Honestly those were quite tempting to me but I know Jeff isn't terribly interested so I didn't run them by him, plus at the time I was thinking a trip for 4 of us, not just the adults and so with school just doesn't work. Sadly this is definitely more than the Fantasy Eastern I moved from late August but those dates wouldn't have worked after all so I guess that part is a bit irrelevant.

We will need lodging in Venice for at least a night and possibly more if this pans out so I will definitely check that out, thanks!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I am SO happy for you guys! That is SOOOO exciting. I've been reading up like crazy, reconsidering my room requests and just getting so excited in general for it. We are at double digits but oh I wish it was sooner.

You and me both! I can't wait to get out of here. It'll be amazing to see the place in person.

You can hijack away, it is wonderful wonderful news and I'm glad you can share it, and we can be part of the surprise! Do let me know if there is anything specific you want me to check out for you while we are there,

Mostly I'm worried about the traffic to/from Honolulu and how it will affect our ability to see the island, get to things like Pearl Harbor/Diamond Head, etc. We still want to do a lot of exploring and we love to get to places early. I'm just not sure we'll have the ability to do that with the rush hour traffic.

We may end up skipping the restaurants on-site (aside from counter-service) just due to the cost. I think there will be a lot of PB&J sandwiches in our future. What are your plans?

Quick update with some breaking news.

It's a bit of a long shot that we can pull this off but I moved our 2014 dummy cruise booking to one we really hope we can do. There are a lot of moving pieces that may or may not allow this to work out but I'm sure hoping it does!

We are currently booked on a ....

9-Night Mediterranean Cruise on Disney Magic!

Departs from: Venice, Italy

Ports of Call:
Katakolon, Greece
Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
Rhodes, Greece (Greek Isles)
Mykonos, Greece
Venice, Italy



It could be 4 of us, or possibly just 2! Moving pieces are $$ (of course), other vacation plans (hoping for an adult only Australia trip but I think that's more likely for 2015) and kids schedules. Time will tell but we may well be celebrating a big birthday for Jeff in Greece!

WOW! That sounds like an amazing trip!