Med Cruisers...Let's Discuss Planning!(Updated Tour Info, Links & BCN Info on Page 1)

[lilpooh108]

Debsters41, I loved your summary, thanks so much for posting. And lilpooh108 thanks for keeping this thread active and organized

You're welcome. It's so fun to re-live the trip, and we're really hoping to do the WBTA next year so the Barcelona stuff is still relevant to us as well

 

[braysmommy]

Debsters41, I loved your summary, thanks so much for posting. And lilpooh108 thanks for keeping this thread active and organized

I second this

Debster41 we will be doing many of the same excursions next year so thank you for taking the time to share it in detail.

Lilpooh I am amazed at how you have organized this thread.....thank you!

 

[debsters41]

I've linked your recap on the 1st page of this thread

Oh my! I went and added a bit and tried to make it more clear.

 

[Tianni]

Quick question... We are on the first magical Mediterranean cruise in may next year, did y'all find that your cruise meet threads were quiet and fe groups small?

 

[890537]

You're welcome. It's so fun to re-live the trip, and we're really hoping to do the WBTA next year so the Barcelona stuff is still relevant to us as well

Nice! We're booked on WBTA currently and figuring out how to make it work.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Quick question... We are on the first magical Mediterranean cruise in may next year, did y'all find that your cruise meet threads were quiet and fe groups small?

We were on the first 12-nighter and our Meet thread was super active and we had about 50 FE participants. We were also on the 2nd 12-nighter which wasn't quite as busy and had about half the number of FE participants. Both groups ended up with FB groups as well and while a lot of the conversation moved over there, a good bit of the planning stayed on DIS - the "get to know you" chatter and some of the planning stuff was on FB, though, and that slowed the thread participation.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Steaks were very tough, nearly inedible according to my husband.

We found the steaks in the dining rooms to be tough so after the second attempt, we stopped ordering them. However, on the days they grilled steaks at lunch at Topsiders, those pieces were really good - hot and fresh, right off the grill.

 

[bats]

You're welcome. It's so fun to re-live the trip, and we're really hoping to do the WBTA next year so the Barcelona stuff is still relevant to us as well

You have to ... Mick and I are getting married on that cruise!!

Quick question... We are on the first magical Mediterranean cruise in may next year, did y'all find that your cruise meet threads were quiet and fe groups small?

We're on the same cruise and although I've joined the Meet thread, I'm not too active on it as I just don't find much time. I'm not on FB either which is a good thing!
Mick and I have already done that itinerary but we're going again sow e cna speak to the wedding co-ordinator on board and to sort a few things out for our WBTA wedding.

 

[texasgirl29]

We were on the August 10 sailing. Our DIS board meet group was pretty small, I think there were only a handful of us chatting back and forth about what we planned to do. We did not do a meet up although two other families were on our excursions with Can't Be Missed Tours in Rome and Pompeii/Amalfi Coast.

We had a very small FE group -- I think it was six families. We did not have a Facebook group but a couple of the people participating in the FE exchange were on the Facebook Fish Extender group -- more of a place to exchange ideas and ask questions and not tied to a particular sailing or ship.

I started a pre-trip report so I could "talk" without feeling like I was hogging the meet group.

I find I'm having withdrawals. I looked forward to the cruise all summer, and now nothing to think about so I'm reading lots of trip reports. I finished my trip report and I'm working on a photobook with all my photos. My husband and his parents are talking about another cruise, probably on Princess in 2015 to Northern Europe. I'm all for a Southampton to NY or Ft. Lauderdale (Houston would be even better!) transatlantic so I don't have to go through that horrible plane ride home again.

JoAnn

 

[lilpooh108]

I second this

Debster41 we will be doing many of the same excursions next year so thank you for taking the time to share it in detail.

Lilpooh I am amazed at how you have organized this thread.....thank you!

Thanks for the compliment!

Oh my! I went and added a bit and tried to make it more clear.

Hehe, no worries

Nice! We're booked on WBTA currently and figuring out how to make it work.

Us too. We have a variety of schedules next year and some health issues with family members across the board so, *fingers crossed*, we will make the trip happen.

You have to ... Mick and I are getting married on that cruise!!

We're on the same cruise and although I've joined the Meet thread, I'm not too active on it as I just don't find much time. I'm not on FB either which is a good thing!
Mick and I have already done that itinerary but we're going again sow e cna speak to the wedding co-ordinator on board and to sort a few things out for our WBTA wedding.

Congratulations! If we do make it on the WBTA, we'll stop by and congratulate you in person!

I find I'm having withdrawals. I looked forward to the cruise all summer, and now nothing to think about so I'm reading lots of trip reports. I finished my trip report and I'm working on a photobook with all my photos.

I'm having withdrawals still! I was overwhelmed with the number of photos we had, so I finally (3 months after the trip) made 5 photobooks for friends and family with that free Shutterfly code that was floating around. Those took a long time

 

[texasgirl29]

I'm having withdrawals still! I was overwhelmed with the number of photos we had, so I finally (3 months after the trip) made 5 photobooks for friends and family with that free Shutterfly code that was floating around. Those took a long time

I got one of those, too, and passed it along to my husband. I prefer to wait for the winkflash.com "bulk pages" sale they have every few months -- up to 100 pages, same price. I do the 12 x 12 size. I've got my photos all in place, just putting in the captions and adding background colors. I am not thrilled with their page layout choices and the last time I did more "scrapbooky" type pages in Photoshop and uploaded them as a single jpg but it was a ton of work and took me way too long.

I make two copies and send to my inlaws as well.

 

[lilpooh108]

I got one of those, too, and passed it along to my husband. I prefer to wait for the winkflash.com "bulk pages" sale they have every few months -- up to 100 pages, same price. I do the 12 x 12 size. I've got my photos all in place, just putting in the captions and adding background colors. I am not thrilled with their page layout choices and the last time I did more "scrapbooky" type pages in Photoshop and uploaded them as a single jpg but it was a ton of work and took me way too long.

I make two copies and send to my inlaws as well.

Sounds great. What's the winkflash quality like? How much "out the door" for a book during a bulk pages sale?

The Shutterfly ones are OK quality, but not bad for $8-ish. I did spend way too much time on those though but since I got 1 photobook started it was easy enough to substitute in other people's pictures since we all went on the same trip.

 

[texasgirl29]

Sounds great. What's the winkflash quality like? How much "out the door" for a book during a bulk pages sale?

The Shutterfly ones are OK quality, but not bad for $8-ish. I did spend way too much time on those though but since I got 1 photobook started it was easy enough to substitute in other people's pictures since we all went on the same trip.

Winkflash is "OK" -- I think Shutterfly printing quality is better although I've had 8 x 8 Shutterfly books fall apart on me -- the Winkflash books are about $50 for a 100 page book in 12 x 12 size, which is the size I like to get.

 

[gcoolie]

I am working my way through this thread, but haven't seen anything about booking flights yet. We are sailing next July out of Barcelona. Which airlines have the best prices and when should I book? Probably a month ago right?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am working my way through this thread, but haven't seen anything about booking flights yet. We are sailing next July out of Barcelona. Which airlines have the best prices and when should I book? Probably a month ago right?

I think it really varies depending on where you live. We sailed Aug 17 and since we didn't decide on our cruise until after Christmas, we didn't book flights until after that, NYE right before midnight actually.
We had miles for 3 seats but the one seat we did buy was $1168. I watched it for a few weeks and finally couldn't take it any more. I felt it wasn't a bad deal since a coworker did the same cruise on Norwegian 2 yr prior and paid around $1600. She booked somewhat last minute though (3 mos out) and all the non-stops were sold out.

 

[linetbo]

Hi, does someone know how far in advanced you can renew your passport. For our mediterranean cruise my passport would have like 7 months left, but I dont want to take the risk and I rather to renew it.

 

[n8tivecaligirl]

As far as I know you can renew whenever you want.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Yes, but it doesn't add 10 yrs to the old exp date. It's 10 yrs from the date you renew it.

 

[linetbo]

ok, but I think I will be more relaxed if I renew it, actually is not mine, its my 14 yo daughter. We are doing all Disney excursion, its only my DD and me on our firts time in Europe and I feel more safe with Disney.

 

[carpenta]

We have renewed our passports a year early in the past just so we would not forget. It is one aspect of the government that works pretty well IMO. I believe kids get their renewal every 5 yrs. we have sailed a number of times to the Med.and twice with Disney and Disney is a great choice for they really take care of the logistics better than most.