June 27, 2013 - Magic in the Med (Venice)

[friedrich2010]

Thanks carpenta!

 

[carpenta]

Thanks carpenta!

You are welcome. We did the exclusive Sistine Chapel tour in 2007 with Disney and it was worth the whole trip. We were in a small group after hours and were free to roam and TAKE VIDEO AND PICTURES!!!! (which is not allowed during regular hours. It was amazing. Our guide was really knowledgable about the history of St. Peters and even kept the kids interested. Disney does employ excellent guide services.

 

[friedrich2010]

Also found out that our disney OBC went up from $250 to $350 because we have moved from gold to platinum since we had made this booking a while ago. Always can use more money on board.

I thought that they changed the OBC program and it is always the same now no matter your castaway level? Can anybody clarify? When we booked this cruise we were only silver level, but now we are gold. Yet, I don't believe our OBC will be magically upgraded.

 

[jel0511]

Does anybody know if we will need to bring our passports off the ship each time we go on an excursion? I was hoping we wouldn't have to do that?

You need your KTTW card and any photo id. I take color copies of our passports off with us and leave the actual passports in the safe onboard.

 

[nzdisneymom]

As a reminder, if you are signed up for Fish Extenders and are GTY on your cabin assignment, if you get it before Friday, be sure to plate the spreadsheet. Any after that, be urge to PM me so I can add it to the master list.

If you are still undecided, you have until Friday night to decide.

Welcome to all new folks.

 

[poohmomof5]

Does anybody know if we will need to bring our passports off the ship each time we go on an excursion? I was hoping we wouldn't have to do that?

I emailed DCL to double check and they said your Key to the World Card and a photo ID is all you need.

 

[Cliffside]

I thought that they changed the OBC program and it is always the same now no matter your castaway level? Can anybody clarify? When we booked this cruise we were only silver level, but now we are gold. Yet, I don't believe our OBC will be magically upgraded.

I should have clarified....this trip is from a dummy reservation that I made before the new OBC rules went into effect. You are correct that right now all new reservations it is the same OBC no matter what castaway club level you are .

 

[nzdisneymom]

I requested that our rooms be connecting but my TA told me that DCL can't guarantee connecting. So I didn't ask for the twin request. I just hope the rooms are connecting or we will have to split into girls room and boys room. I'll pack accordingly just in case we are separated.

In 2007, our rooms were on the same floor but not near each other (different hotel than Renaissance). Because the boys were so much younger, DH stayed with one and I stayed with the other. I kept all the luggage with me and sent DH / DS with their toiletries, pj's and clothes for the next morning. Then because luggage pickup was at 9 AM, I had DH bring me their stuff back before that so I could pack it all up and they could go back to sleep just in their clothes

This time the boys are old enough that they can stay in a room by themselves, thus the need for the twin beds. If there aren't twin beds in one of the rooms, DH and I will probably split up unless the boys agree to get along and not complain about having to sleep together in exchange for having a room without us Since we will be there two nights, I am hoping that there will be twin beds for them and a not-twin-bed situation for me and DH. We will be spending the following 24 nights in a cabin together so we will want to spread out as much as we can before boarding and applying pixie dust.

Just got off the phone with travel agent..I was getting concerned with the pre and post stay we booked with Disney at the Rennaisance with all three of us staying in one room and I just read a lot of reviews saying the hotel is very nice but the rooms are very small and I went on to the marriott website and all the rooms i saw said no roll aways so i was getting a little nervous...but travel agent spoke to disney and said we are in a executive room which will have either a king or queen and a roll away and that it is 340sq feet so we should be fine...Here's hoping the room will be ready when we get there...i Know wishful thinking

DCL is good about making sure that the pre-cruise hotel is suitable for accommodating party size. We were happy in London that they had rooms to accommodate four. We do keep reminding ourselves that rooms are smaller in Europe but we're about to spend time in a smaller place on the ship In fact over spring break, the hotel room we were in (holiday inn express), we stayed in a "suite" room which was a little larger than regular hotel rooms but much larger feeling than our cabin will be.

Does anybody know if we will need to bring our passports off the ship each time we go on an excursion? I was hoping we wouldn't have to do that?

As others have said, no need for a passport off the ship. We have had ports where we've needed them but not on this itinerary We carry a copy of our passports with us into port so we'll have them should we need them, and we keep an electronic copy where our emergency contact person at home can get to them if necessary.

 

[teerama]

I've been lurking for the past few days....
You all seem like a great bunch so far.

I wuold like to join the FB group as well so let me get to posting a bit about us!

 

[teerama]

I spelled 'would' wrong....sorry!!

We are from Long Island, NY and this will be our second Disney Cruise

 

[teerama]

We are family of FOUR (we have a 20 year old DD staying home - she can't get the time off work) Or maybe that's just what she told us so she can have the house to herself

Its Me, DH, DD (10) and DS (8)

We cruised on the Dream Inaugural Cruises in 2011 and have been looking forward to another Disney cruise ever since

 

[teerama]

So...

We are thinking of doing Dubrovnik on our own.... Cab to the city wall entrance and cafe, lunch, walking tour.

 

[teerama]

Also, although I have been on a Disney Cruise before...

I have NEVER heard of a Fish Extender until I started lurking here.

I love the concept, and we are listed as UNDECIDED for now.

 

[teerama]

I noticed lots of highly decorated cabin doors on our Dream cruise and really had no concept of what was going on. I just thought these were really enthusiastic Cruisers.

It seems that Disney Cruisers (although its the only Cruise Line I've ever been on) have a culture all their own.

 

[teerama]

Since I've ONLY been on the Dream. I was really happy to hear about your positive spin regarding the Magic. I've been pretty worried that my family would be comparing it to the Dream and be disappointed.

The Magic cruised out of NY for most of the Fall and late Summer last year. I had a friend that took her family and she wasn't very optimistic or enthusiastic for me when I told her we booked it for the Mediterranean.

 

[teerama]

We originally booked this cruise as a BIG 4-0 birthday gift to me (my Birthday was in March).

But, as I was speaking to our TA, we realized that my birthday is the least of our celebrations.

DH's birthday is on our actual sail date: June 27
Our wedding anniversary is June 29

and one week before sailing DD (10) graduates from Elementary School - 5th grade!!

My birthday has now gotten completely lost in the shuffle

 

[teerama]

I am so excited to finally get a lanyard (Silver level) so I can show we are repeat cruisers

Doesn't take much to make me happy

 

[teerama]

Hooray!!

This is my 10th post!! I can stop bombarding you nice people with nonsensical or even noninteresting facts about our family!!

We will be staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar for the pre-cruise and the Hilton Barcelona for the post-cruise.

Anyone else checking in at the Hilton Diagonal Mar? We didn't book a Barcelona excursion, we were hoping to 'hoof' it ourselves.

That Mickey D's sounds like a real winner

 

[poohmomof5]

So...

We are thinking of doing Dubrovnik on our own.... Cab to the city wall entrance and cafe, lunch, walking tour.

That is what we will probably do too!

 

[gydell]

Since I've ONLY been on the Dream. I was really happy to hear about your positive spin regarding the Magic. I've been pretty worried that my family would be comparing it to the Dream and be disappointed.

The Magic cruised out of NY for most of the Fall and late Summer last year. I had a friend that took her family and she wasn't very optimistic or enthusiastic for me when I told her we booked it for the Mediterranean.

The Magic is my favorite ship! I have done all 4 ships.

Hooray!!



That Mickey D's sounds like a real winner

With a kid in tow we will be back at the McDonald's. We also have Hard Rock Cafe planned for the 26th.