2007 Transatlantic and First Med cruises thread

[Lynn G]

Good Morning Folks!

Cold and snow here today! Currently .6 degrees with windchill of -9 degrees! Brrrrrr!!!

Have a great day everyone!

 

[CACruisin']

I have not been on the boards since last Friday, we had a busy weekend, then I was in training for the Census job, and was gone 8 to 10 hours a day, with 2 hours of homework when I got home. Training finished today, I was promoted to Crew Leader (from Crew Leader Assistant), which means that I get to train a team of about 12 people, and get to supervise them - what fun! I will be spending the next week cramming with books on the training and the address canvassing itself - so that I will be able to answer any questions from my crew.

Weather has been really nice here, but I have not had the chance to really enjoy it, I only got out for a bit on my lunch breaks.

Have a great evening everyone!

Congrats on the Census job and the promotion! That should be a really interesting job!

Congratulations on your promotion. I just took the Census test this morning. I did get 100% on the test, so hopefully I will get something.

that you hear something soon about Census in SD. Great job on the test!

Is the new "Small World" done already? I thought they were closing it for a while, but was excited to hear that it might be open! We went to the Magic Kingdom on Friday and Fantasyland was crowded, but we walked on Pirates and had fast passes for everything else. Walking around wasn't bad, but I thought the lines were a little long. We even waited for the People Mover, but that is because it kept breaking down - ha ha! Have you guys that frequent Disneyland notice any of the cutbacks like we have here?

It's a Small World re-opened a few weeks ago. It was ok. I was skeptical about the changes to the music particularly (I'm not one for change in general, and I really don't like anyone messing with my most favorite ride at DL!). I should not have worried - This is Disney after all! They changes were ok. The new characters were not intrusive and blended well with the rest of the theming. As for the music - it is still the wonderful "catchy" tune we all know and love . I don't think I would have even noticed the overlay (underlay?) of other disney music if I wasn't specifically listening for it. I was happy .

Good Morning Folks!

Cold and snow here today! Currently .6 degrees with windchill of -9 degrees! Brrrrrr!!!

Have a great day everyone!

All I can say is ! We are complaining here about the cold - low 60's!

 

[CACruisin']

I just read the orlando sentinel article - The new ships are Disney Dream in 2011 and Disney Fantasy in 2012 KEWL!

 

[CACruisin']

We had a great trip to DL on 3/1. DH arranged for his mom to stay with the kiddo's while he and I spent the day "birthday celebrating"! He planned a great trip. We started the day with a Segway Tour of DCA before the park opened. That was SO MUCH FUN!!! We spent about 45 minutes getting instructions, watching a video, etc. Disney provided muffins, fruit and juice too which was nice. Then we had about an hour of "practice" over by the Monster's Inc area. We slalomed around cones, over bumps, up and down inclines, turns, ducking (for low branches!). The first few minutes were sort of wobbly, but after that it was just intuitive! Think forward - go forward, think backward - go backward, think turn - turn! After that we took off with our two guides and 10 other guests and rode all over DCA. We stopped a few times and the guides would give us info about the happenings, etc around DCA. We ended the tour with a group picture and walking down an empty Hollywood Blvd. toward the masses of people waiting for rope drop. We also got a really neat pin w/ a Segway on it. as Scott would say - VERY KEWL tour!

After our tour DH and I went over to DL. It was crowded, but using fastpasses and luck we never had to wait in line for more than 15-20 minutes. Most waits were under 10 minutes. We rode just about everything except for Fantasyland. DH had made lunch reservations at Blue Bayou and dinner reservations at Catal in Downtown Disney - both were excellent. After dinner we spread out a blanket and staked out a spot for Fantasmic. DH had never seen the show and I've only seen it once, so that was fun. We headed to tomorrowland after the show. We had one more set of fast passes for Space Mountain and there were no lines at Astro Orbiter and Buzz Lightyear. As we were walking toward the monorail DH noticed that Nemo had only about 10 people in line - so we did that too! We ended the day riding in the "nose" of the monorail with the engineer - Perfect ending to a perfect day! It was an awesome way to celebrate my 45th birthday and DH's 48th 3 days before!

 

[Hoagie Pie]

We had a great trip to DL on 3/1. DH arranged for his mom to stay with the kiddo's while he and I spent the day "birthday celebrating"! He planned a great trip. We started the day with a Segway Tour of DCA before the park opened. That was SO MUCH FUN!!! We spent about 45 minutes getting instructions, watching a video, etc. Disney provided muffins, fruit and juice too which was nice. Then we had about an hour of "practice" over by the Monster's Inc area. We slalomed around cones, over bumps, up and down inclines, turns, ducking (for low branches!). The first few minutes were sort of wobbly, but after that it was just intuitive! Think forward - go forward, think backward - go backward, think turn - turn! After that we took off with our two guides and 10 other guests and rode all over DCA. We stopped a few times and the guides would give us info about the happenings, etc around DCA. We ended the tour with a group picture and walking down an empty Hollywood Blvd. toward the masses of people waiting for rope drop. We also got a really neat pin w/ a Segway on it. as Scott would say - VERY KEWL tour!

After our tour DH and I went over to DL. It was crowded, but using fastpasses and luck we never had to wait in line for more than 15-20 minutes. Most waits were under 10 minutes. We rode just about everything except for Fantasyland. DH had made lunch reservations at Blue Bayou and dinner reservations at Catal in Downtown Disney - both were excellent. After dinner we spread out a blanket and staked out a spot for Fantasmic. DH had never seen the show and I've only seen it once, so that was fun. We headed to tomorrowland after the show. We had one more set of fast passes for Space Mountain and there were no lines at Astro Orbiter and Buzz Lightyear. As we were walking toward the monorail DH noticed that Nemo had only about 10 people in line - so we did that too! We ended the day riding in the "nose" of the monorail with the engineer - Perfect ending to a perfect day! It was an awesome way to celebrate my 45th birthday and DH's 48th 3 days before!

That sounds like a perfect birthday! Glad to hear that Small World did not change much. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!

 

[ssnyder]

I just read the orlando sentinel article - The new ships are Disney Dream in 2011 and Disney Fantasy in 2012 KEWL!

Did you see the article in the San Diego paper about the west coast ship? They said that San Diego is negotiating with Disney to have the ship in San Diego rather than San Pedro. That would be great for us. I also think it would be great for the people flying in, since the port is so close to the airport. Of course, I'm thinking about job possibilities also.

 

[CACruisin']

Did you see the article in the San Diego paper about the west coast ship? They said that San Diego is negotiating with Disney to have the ship in San Diego rather than San Pedro. That would be great for us. I also think it would be great for the people flying in, since the port is so close to the airport. Of course, I'm thinking about job possibilities also.

It would be awesome if one of the ships were in San Diego. The port is really convenient to the airport and also downtown, seaworld, zoo, etc. Our port/ bay are way prettier too! It would be a great job too. However, I wonder if DCL isn't using the possibility of SD as a negotiating tactic with Long Beach? It is still possible to to do DLR/DCL combo packages from SD, but LA is more logical. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm just hoping we will eventually get "CA resident rates" for last minute trips - how cool would that be!

 

[NHdisneylover]

Hi everyone.
Anna--The birthday sounds wonderful Happy (belated) Birthday I am glad to hear Small World is still the ride it should be.

Well, I will be the lone dissenter and hope DCL keeps Long Beach as a port Dave's sister lives in L.A. and we have cruised out of both ports. For us, having family closer to Long Beach we can get there much more easily and cheaply. Though, at the moment I keep hoping one ship (any one old or new) spends a fair amount of time in Europe as this seems to eb where we will be in the near future anyway

 

[Hoagie Pie]

It would be awesome if one of the ships were in San Diego. The port is really convenient to the airport and also downtown, seaworld, zoo, etc. Our port/ bay are way prettier too! It would be a great job too. However, I wonder if DCL isn't using the possibility of SD as a negotiating tactic with Long Beach? It is still possible to to do DLR/DCL combo packages from SD, but LA is more logical. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm just hoping we will eventually get "CA resident rates" for last minute trips - how cool would that be!

Funny you mentioned the "CA Resident rates" for last minute cruises. We tried this past weekend in Florida and they didn't have resident rates until the end of July and even then it was questionable. The last minute thing - I believe, will be rare, but it is cool to think about. When I called them, they said they only needed an hours notice that you wanted to board the ship. Now that is last minute! She said sometimes people are having lunch in Port Canaveral, and say, "let's get on the Magic." She said by 2-3:00 they are on. That was good to know - I always thought you needed 3 days or more. Anyway, maybe you guys will have better luck then Florida people do.

 

[kpros]

I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm just hoping we will eventually get "CA resident rates" for last minute trips - how cool would that be!

I agree - So Cal rates would be great!!!

Ken

 

[NHdisneylover]

Ken, I haven't seen you post in ages!!! Hi

 

[kpros]

Ken, I haven't seen you post in ages!!! Hi

Hi Hadley

I've been lurking around. New duties at the office have kept me busy. It's terrible when work gets in the way of fun.

Ken

 

[Lynn G]

Good Evening Folks!

I have been MIA since last Tuesday. On Wednesday, I spent the day in meetings in Denver and Greeley. Word came down that we needed to get out and start “canvassing”, so, instead of getting to spend time preparing for the class I have to teach next week, I spent Thurs and Fri “address canvassing” in Cheyenne. I did put in about 3-4 miles each day! Between that and dealing with the 2 crew I am currently supervising (until my class – then I will have 15 to supervise!), I did not have much time for anything – the dogs did not even get walked – until today.

Beautiful day here – watered the trees and shrubs – I am sure the nice weather will not stay, we will probably get more snow shortly – just not in the forecast for the next week!

Hadley - come join us on the first Baltic cruise!!!

 

[NHdisneylover]

Just popping on to say HAPPY EASTER to those of you who celebrate. We are enjoying living somewhere that is snow free for Eatser and the kids found a few dozen eggs outside for a change. I hope everyone has a great day.

We have our first trip to Disneyland Paris schedueld for next month. I am sooooo excited. I will post back and let you all know what we think of it as I know some of you are planning side trips in conjuntion with your med cruises. We got a GREAT deal by booking through the UK website (via a UK travel agent online--our U.S. travel agent was not allowed to book this deal). It seems they regurly run different deals for the different coutnries and the best tend to be offered on the U.K or German sites. So, if you are bargain hunting for your trip, try both of those (well, German is you can figure it out) and see what the difference is. We saved 40% over what the German site priced the same package as and almost 60% over the U.S.

 

[Lynn G]

Good to hear from you Hadley!

Happy Easter to all, and have a great day!

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Happy Mother's Day to all and I cannot believe it has been 2 years! I have a smile on my face just thinking about it, but wish we could be doing it again with the same people!!

 

[Lynn G]

Happy Mother's Day!

 

[CACruisin']

Just popping in to say to all my cruise friends. Usual crazy busy around here. DD5 seems determined to catch every new germ in Kindergarten and then "share" them with the rest of us. DD13 decided next year she would attend the same HS as her older sister. There are four HS's she can chose from in our district. (Makes my life next year a bit simplier) oh and DD14 turned into DD15 a couple of weeks ago. DD15 swam in the league preliminary championship this afternoon. She placed 6th in the backstroke so she will swim in finals on friday. Everyone's doing well in school, even me! I have finals next week in Spanish and another class.

I can't believe it has been two years already since our amazing trip! I still find myself thinking "today we would have been at sea...", "remember the crazy waves?" Truly a fantastic trip made even more so by all of the wonderful people onboard!

I hope all is well with everyone!

 

[nanaguide]

Yes, I agree. It was an amazing cruise - all because of such wonderful cruisers. I too remember the big waves splashing over the side - I slept like a baby!!! I've been on 3 cruises since then but none have quite measured up to the transatlantic. I think we were all in the right place at the right time. It was a very special cruise. I'm still at Epcot so come by UK and say "hi" on Monday or Tuesday nights - if I'm not there they can look at the sheet and know where I'm at. I always think of Deb and her Mom when I walk by Canada. Our convention business is slow but the Parks are packed. How can anyone pass up all these wonderful Disney specials. We're taking our grandson,Aiden, to Washington D.C. for 6 days the day he graduates from Kdg. on June 3. We're going on the train - even reserved a roomette. He is excited and so are we. We'll then go down to Williamsburg for 3 days and stay at Great Wolf Lodge and waterpark. Next Summer we hope to take the Northern Europe 10 night Baltic cruise. Of course I wanted to go on the Disney one but it is about $5,000 more than the Holland America Eurodam so we will save the money but will definitely miss the "pixie dust". Hope everyone is doing great. Take care dear cruise friends! Anna

 

[kpros]

Yes, I agree. It was an amazing cruise - all because of such wonderful cruisers. I too remember the big waves splashing over the side - I slept like a baby!!! I've been on 3 cruises since then but none have quite measured up to the transatlantic. I think we were all in the right place at the right time. It was a very special cruise. I'm still at Epcot so come by UK and say "hi" on Monday or Tuesday nights - if I'm not there they can look at the sheet and know where I'm at. I always think of Deb and her Mom when I walk by Canada. Our convention business is slow but the Parks are packed. How can anyone pass up all these wonderful Disney specials. We're taking our grandson,Aiden, to Washington D.C. for 6 days the day he graduates from Kdg. on June 3. We're going on the train - even reserved a roomette. He is excited and so are we. We'll then go down to Williamsburg for 3 days and stay at Great Wolf Lodge and waterpark. Next Summer we hope to take the Northern Europe 10 night Baltic cruise. Of course I wanted to go on the Disney one but it is about $5,000 more than the Holland America Eurodam so we will save the money but will definitely miss the "pixie dust". Hope everyone is doing great. Take care dear cruise friends! Anna

Hi Anna

Are you still walking in events? Shari is walking a marathon later in May in San Diego. She has been in Florida for the past week - we now own a little piece of Florida. Very little.

Ken