4/24/2010 Med cruise: Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me your Ears

[NC_Tink]

Hello,

Has anyone seen the news reports about the Volcanic ash that is affecting air travel in Europe???? Now, I’m nervous about our flight next Tuesday since we have a stop in Dublin which has been affected by this. If this ash continues to be a problem next week I’m sure there will be many of us that will be scrambling to get to Barcelona. Yikes!!

LuAnne

I'm nervous too - we're due to fly to London on Tuesday evening! Please let the winds blow!! Other wise we'll be changing plans, trying to fly directly to Barcelona, scrambling to find a hotels, etc. Thankfully, I understand that BA is refunding tickets - but wow - that's not the route I want to go!

 

[carpenta]

Can you recommend a good, inexpensive tapas place for the kids and me? Even with the traveling we've done, and the wide variety of ethnic food we eat regularly at home, we've never had tapas or anything really "Spanish", Catalan, etc.

We're staying out of the way, in the middle of a residential area, far from the sites, and will be depending on public transit a lot, as well as hitting the Picasso museum, so we have to decide about the card.

And chocolate for dessert? Just in shops, or are there some sort of amazing chocolate bars I missed reading about?
Julie

We stayed last trip in the Hilton Diagonal del Mar which was a little north of the Las Ramblas. We actually asked the desk person and they were more than helpful in finding good local resturaunts. Across was a big mall which had a Morrocan rest. "Agaquilla" which was good. Also we went to a buffet at lunch with all kinds of tapas and meats (sausage,smoked meats, grilled fish) all you can ever eat. Not too expensive and they do charge half for kids.I forgot the name but it was outstanding. Down by the Colunbus circle and the big market there are a number of outdoor resturaunts that you can people watch and smell that beautiful Med air. One thing that is advised not to string your handbag over the back of your chair but rather put the strap under one leg of the chair and keep it between your feet. Also avoid the outer row of tables by the street for easy pickings.There were some reports of bags being sliced off the back of chairs but I'm sure you already know all these tricks. Knock on wood we had not had a problem but I hope I just didn't jinx myself. We just ask the locals for a good recommendation for dessert and they have always been so helpful. It does amaze me that the McDonalds and Burger Kings are jammed packed while you can stroll into some fine resturaunts and eat so much better. The kids can always have the Gelato..our daughter made it her duty to have a Gelato in every port we stopped. Strictly as a scientific experiment,

 

[dolphingirl47]

I'm back! Mananged to negotiate squeezing 2 days worth of antibugs in a shorter period of time so I can go home. The eye is MUCH better. Thanks all for your thoughts! Hope everyone else who is unwell recover in time for the trip.

DH and I did a quick calculation and decided against the barcelona card. Public transport is so cheap. Also because of jet lag we're probably going to take it easy and so won't really make use of all the discounts to the various attractions.

I am glad that you are starting to feel better.

Hello,

Has anyone seen the news reports about the Volcanic ash that is affecting air travel in Europe???? Now, I’m nervous about our flight next Tuesday since we have a stop in Dublin which has been affected by this. If this ash continues to be a problem next week I’m sure there will be many of us that will be scrambling to get to Barcelona. Yikes!!

LuAnne

Well, we are officially in single digits for our cruise. I am just hoping that we can get there. At the moment the UK airspace will be closed until at least 1 PM tomorrow, but I would be surprised if any flights will be allowed to operate until at least Sunday and there is a possibility that this could drag on much longer than that. Working for an airline was definitely interesting today.

Corinna

 

[mrosen]

I'm nervous too - we're due to fly to London on Tuesday evening! Please let the winds blow!! Other wise we'll be changing plans, trying to fly directly to Barcelona, scrambling to find a hotels, etc. Thankfully, I understand that BA is refunding tickets - but wow - that's not the route I want to go!

We too are nervous and flying from RDU to London on Tuesday evening. We weren't able to get flight from JFK to BCN on AA with freq flier points so going through London to Barcelona. I sure hope this clears up soon or I'll be nuts early next week.

 

[shushh]

I think the ash is moving south?

So hopefully all will be ok for those flying in via the UK. We, on the other hand, are flying in through Milan. Hmmmm...come one ash, fly away!!!

 

[mrosen]

I think the ash is moving south?

So hopefully all will be ok for those flying in via the UK. We, on the other hand, are flying in through Milan. Hmmmm...come one ash, fly away!!!

I'll second that on "ash, fly away!!!" The news reports with no ETA on when this might clear up are adding to my anxiety, that's for sure.

 

[skoi]

I'm glad I'm not the only one freaking out!

 

[NC_Tink]

Well - DH just said "this is a real pain in my ash!"

I'm really trying not to panic. Of course, it helps that I just had a large glass of wine =) We still have 5 days before we fly - hopefully it will clear by then. But, what's the earliest we should think of alternate plans? If by Monday this isn't clearing - I guess we'll be calling British Airways and asking about our alternatives (us and 5,000 or so other people - right?)

 

[3wf]

Kansas City family going on this cruise:

Brian (36), Vanessa (38), Mason (8), and Judy (67) "Gammy"

 

[salboz]

Hello 3Wf and welcome.

 

[NC_Tink]

Kansas City family going on this cruise:

Brian (36), Vanessa (38), Mason (8), and Judy (67) "Gammy"

Brian, Vanessa, Mason, and Judy aka "Gammy"!!!

 

[mrosen]

Kansas City family going on this cruise:

Brian (36), Vanessa (38), Mason (8), and Judy (67) "Gammy"

Welcome aboard!!

 

[mrosen]

Did anyone get a call from Disney about further stateroom upgrades? We got a call today out of the blue to upgrade our room again. I passed on the upgrade from a Cat 9 to 8 as they would have moved us up to Deck 5 from 2 and I liked being down the hall from the laundry facility (call me crazy!). They were very nice. I asked if I had to upgrade, thanked them for this and prior upgrade we did receive and the person from Disney was rather nice and indicated they would just leave me in the current stateroom we had been assigned.

Hope I don't regret this but was already thrilled with the upgrade we got and with a couple of kids, being down the hall from the laundry room seemed too convenient to give up.

 

[skoi]

Kansas City family going on this cruise:

Brian (36), Vanessa (38), Mason (8), and Judy (67) "Gammy"

WELCOME ABOARD!

 

[skoi]

Did anyone get a call from Disney about further stateroom upgrades? We got a call today out of the blue to upgrade our room again. I passed on the upgrade from a Cat 9 to 8 as they would have moved us up to Deck 5 from 2 and I liked being down the hall from the laundry facility (call me crazy!). They were very nice. I asked if I had to upgrade, thanked them for this and prior upgrade we did receive and the person from Disney was rather nice and indicated they would just leave me in the current stateroom we had been assigned.

Hope I don't regret this but was already thrilled with the upgrade we got and with a couple of kids, being down the hall from the laundry room seemed too convenient to give up.

Wow, lucky. I hope they call me!

Some news on the Brit Air situation. I called them this evening, and they said they're only refunding flights through Saturday, and call back. I was set to make changes, but not luck.

So if anyone hears about them offering refunds for early next week, please let me know! Thanks,
Julie

 

[friend of tinkerbell]

Kansas City family going on this cruise:

Brian (36), Vanessa (38), Mason (8), and Judy (67) "Gammy"

Welcome Kansas City neighbors!

We're from Overland Park. Good to have you aboard!

Michaela (41) Lester (51) Noah (10)

 

[mrosen]

Wow, lucky. I hope they call me!

Some news on the Brit Air situation. I called them this evening, and they said they're only refunding flights through Saturday, and call back. I was set to make changes, but not luck.

So if anyone hears about them offering refunds for early next week, please let me know! Thanks,
Julie

Maybe they are doing this as they hope this clears up by Saturday and their flights will be back to normal. If that happens, I believe many of us would be relieved. I am guessing there are a number of us stressing over this.

 

[Dicecatt]

Kansas City family going on this cruise:

Brian (36), Vanessa (38), Mason (8), and Judy (67) "Gammy"

Hi and Welcome! We are in STL. We'll be in KC this weekend for a cheer competition!

 

[mrosen]

anyone familiar with the El Tablao de Carmen dinner show in Barcelona:
"Flamenco Show, with Optional Dinner or Tapas"

El Tablao de Carmen is flamenco show, with two evening performances at Poble Espanyol, an area filled with stores selling arts and crafts from around Spain.

we are considering booking this and didn't know if anyone would be familiar or been to this to get any perspectives.

 

[Dicecatt]

Thought you all might like to see my strange but cool Fish Extender, and the booklet that I made for the cruise!