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

[auntlynne]

We didn't visit Stonehenge - my DB & SIL had been previously. They said it was much smaller than you would expect - and, yes, they keep you fenced out of it. They visited a stone circle (?) up north during this trip where they could walk among the stones.

I wanted to see Warwick Castle, but we ran out of time (in 2+ weeks). Did visit Windsor, though not inside castle, as it was after visiting hours and we were leaving the country the next day.

We did an overnight flight from Atlanta (not sleeping much the night before and then a 3 hours drive to get to the ATL airport) - I had almost booked us a place to sleep in Gatwick for a few hours, but didn't. Big mistake. We dragged ourselves around Kensington near our lodging until it was available and then crashed for a few hours before going to the Globe Theatre. I actually fell asleep standing up as I tried to get myself awake. The play was good but exhaustion overtook me.

In the future, it's catch a day flight (hard to find - though my DB & SIL had one out of Boston) or book the room for the night before arrival & tell them you are arriving in the morning - pricey with London hotel rates, but worth it, I should think.

As for hotel rates, we actually stayed at the Boy Scout hostel (run by a German hostel company). In Kensington, about $33 pp. We had a room to ourselves (there were 5 of us females). Kids under 18 cannot be housed in the dormitory rooms with strangers. We had our own bathroom and there was luggage storage before/after check-in/check-out. Very nice location in the city with some decent lower-cost dining choices (and subway stops) nearby.

 

[NC_Tink]

We didn't visit Stonehenge - my DB & SIL had been previously. They said it was much smaller than you would expect - and, yes, they keep you fenced out of it. They visited a stone circle (?) up north during this trip where they could walk among the stones.

I wanted to see Warwick Castle, but we ran out of time (in 2+ weeks). Did visit Windsor, though not inside castle, as it was after visiting hours and we were leaving the country the next day.

We did an overnight flight from Atlanta (not sleeping much the night before and then a 3 hours drive to get to the ATL airport) - I had almost booked us a place to sleep in Gatwick for a few hours, but didn't. Big mistake. We dragged ourselves around Kensington near our lodging until it was available and then crashed for a few hours before going to the Globe Theatre. I actually fell asleep standing up as I tried to get myself awake. The play was good but exhaustion overtook me.

In the future, it's catch a day flight (hard to find - though my DB & SIL had one out of Boston) or book the room for the night before arrival & tell them you are arriving in the morning - pricey with London hotel rates, but worth it, I should think.

As for hotel rates, we actually stayed at the Boy Scout hostel (run by a German hostel company). In Kensington, about $33 pp. We had a room to ourselves (there were 5 of us females). Kids under 18 cannot be housed in the dormitory rooms with strangers. We had our own bathroom and there was luggage storage before/after check-in/check-out. Very nice location in the city with some decent lower-cost dining choices (and subway stops) nearby.

Thanks for the tip on the hotel Lynne!! I didn't even think of booking our hotel for the night before. We were wondering what we are gonna do -- our flight arrives Heathrow at 8:35am. We're hoping we could at least drop off our luggage and then head out into the city for a few hours until we could officially check-in, but if we have a room waiting then we can, at the very least, drop our luggage and freshen up a little. We're staying at a hotel in Kensington. An associate of my DH suggested this area since it is close to sights, shopping and has many restaurants. We're fortunate - my DH works for an international company and some of the folks he works with in the London area have been kind enough to help us in making our arrangements! That's been super nice I think we got a pretty decent rate -- but one of the folks from his company is actually working through an agency they use for work related travel to see if she can negotiate an even better rate -- so keeping my fingers crossed there! We're really excited -- have never been to London and although I think Barcelona would have been wonderful prior to his trip -- I'm so much more excited about going to the UK (no offense to Barcelona ).

 

[NC_Tink]

Lubi-
I'm so jealous of you, going to London. I'd love to go. Oldest dd and I read a lot of Tudor history, and we want to see so many things. But yet for her "high school trip", she picked to go to Egypt instead of England. Go figure.

Julie

Thanks Julie! I've read a lot of Tudor history as well! Love that time period! Wow - Egypt though -- how totally exciting to see the Pyramids and all!! We actually looked at booking a different cruise, earlier this year (I know "blasphemy" that we looked at another cruise line ) that included a stop in Egypt with an excursion to the Pyramids. I think it might have even been an overnight excursion -- but not sure -- all my research tends to blend together That would have been an awesome cruise! But, the boys REALLY want to go on the Magic. They had such a great time during our cruise this year - they loved the counselors in the Lab and Quest. They know that many of the same counselors will be in the clubs for this cruise and they just can't wait. When I suggested another cruise line -- they were so "deflated" that I just couldn't change our plans. So, I guess I'll just have to do another Mediterranean Cruise in the future

 

[auntlynne]

...But, the boys REALLY want to go on the Magic. They had such a great time during our cruise this year - they loved the counselors in the Lab and Quest. They know that many of the same counselors will be in the clubs for this cruise and they just can't wait. When I suggested another cruise line -- they were so "deflated" that I just couldn't change our plans. ...

Now that is a testament on why to cruise Disney...when boys love it.

Lynne

 

[skoi]

Well our plan was that I was going to go study for four weeks in Cairo and she was going to meet me, but now we're just visiting. This is a busy year for us, which is why I started a blog on wordpress, to write about our travels this year.

I think we're going to end up buying the wireless package on board so we can keep the blog up.

Julie

 

[shushh]

Hurray! We're paid in full as well now. Now I'm super keen to organise all the little things eg FE, meets, etc

Lubi, it sounds like you've got a lovely pre-cruise little trip planned. Lynne, it appears that you've been everywhere! And Julie, that is a lot of baking that you're doing!

Well, we're gearing up toward Christmas now and I am really tired but very excited! We too have big days on both the 25th and 26th (boxing day which I believe is not a holiday in the US) as it is Elliot's birthday on the 26th.

We had a lovely Kris Kringle party with Malcolm's father's extended family. We had 58 family members gather and celebrate with lots of food, fun and games. Might try to post some pictures soon.

I NEED to sleep...could barely stay awake at work today. Will catch up again soon!

Belinda

 

[grlzmom]

Wow, back from a week on the Magic and you all have been moving along on the thread and I have some catching up to do!

Received the letter about additional OBC and that is awesome! Combined with what we had already, and kids sail free offer and cheap cat 12 rates I am feeling very happy

Welcome to everyone new, glad to see that there are lots of other back to back people, and new MED cruisers, it will be a great trip.

We are probably going to opt out of Fish Extenders for the MED. Plan on doing it for the TA but thinking we will be too busy on the MED and need to minimize my luggage if at all possible

Of course if Bunko somehow carries its way over from the TA to the MED, please count me in, ha ha.

Happy thoughts to everyone and hope all are off to a great week. We are crazy here with getting back Saturday and moving the household from Florida to Georgia this week and trying to get it done and settled in temporary apartments before Christmas as my house won't be done until February 1st.

 

[Michelle2]

Wow, back from a week on the Magic and you all have been moving along on the thread and I have some catching up to do!

Received the letter about additional OBC and that is awesome! Combined with what we had already, and kids sail free offer and cheap cat 12 rates I am feeling very happy

Welcome to everyone new, glad to see that there are lots of other back to back people, and new MED cruisers, it will be a great trip.

We are probably going to opt out of Fish Extenders for the MED. Plan on doing it for the TA but thinking we will be too busy on the MED and need to minimize my luggage if at all possible

Of course if Bunko somehow carries its way over from the TA to the MED, please count me in, ha ha.

Happy thoughts to everyone and hope all are off to a great week. We are crazy here with getting back Saturday and moving the household from Florida to Georgia this week and trying to get it done and settled in temporary apartments before Christmas as my house won't be done until February 1st.

You have some very busy weeks ahead of you! Hang in there!

 

[Brooklyn]

Ok so all plane tickets are bought. I know Michelle2 may be on our flights but wondering if anyone else will be on Air Berlin. We got Air Berlin from BCN to JFK on the 6th for $440 for the adults and $380 for the kids. Then my husband and grandma will be flying back to SD via Delta to SD. We got those flights for $130. The girls and I will be staying in NY and NJ for a few days to visit family. Grandma does not like that family, HAHA and my husband will be out of vacation days after 25 nights of cruising!!!

I was hoping for a later flight out on the 5th but no luck. I would rather not have to rush off the ship in the AM. We booked the Best Western at the airport. It has an indoor pool so the girls can swim.

On a side note about Air Berlin they allow 2 bas for free! So we are only going to have to pay for bags for husband and grandma on the Delta flight. I wanted to book them on SW but they would have had to go from JFK to LGA and I did not want to have to deal with that.

SOOOO excited for this trip!!!!!

 

[mrosen]

We booked our airfare today. I wanted to fly RDU to JFK to Barcelona going and reverse of that coming back but the seats using less American freq flier points were all gone. So we are flying RDU to Heathrow to Barcelona and back. This gets us a few of our plane tickets covered that way through american frequent flier points as airfare for 4 is pricey to Europe and I didn't want to chance holding out for some discounts on what we have to pay for and also risk the seats we can get on the flights from RDU-London-Spain from disappearing for these freq flier award reimbursement. We plan to spend some time before and after in Barcelona and already had hotel booked in Spain.

I just need to make our final payment for the cruise as its due this week.

Looking forward to this cruise.

 

[auntlynne]

mrosen - I worked in Raleigh for a few months in 2000 at Wake Medical (Travel RN). Lived over near Lake Lynn; flew out of RDU a few times to visit home. Very nice people there; friendly, welcoming.

 

[shushh]

OK...what is bunko?!?!

 

[NC_Tink]

mrosen - where in the Raleigh area do you live? We're in Holly Springs! We're going to fly out of Newark because it actually saves us some $$ cutting out the "RDU to connection airport" leg, since there do not seem to be any direct flights to anywhere overseas from here. My Brother and his family live in NJ so we get to visit with them for a few days before we fly overseas. And, I get to see my Grandmother who lives on L.I. I only get to see her about once or twice a year because she doesn't travel. Unfortunately, our visits are limited to when we can make the trek up there. When I knew we would be going to Europe this Spring - I kinda had it in my mind that we would drive to the New York area and visit family before our trip.

Hey everyone -- can you believe that we are almost at the 4 month mark!!! Wow, the time is going to go by so fast!

 

[NC_Tink]

OK...what is bunko?!?!

Bunko is a dice game, played in rounds that, basically, requires no thought what-so-ever. Husbands in my neighborhood have nicknamed it "Drunko" because the wives get together once a month - drink, socialize and play Bunko. Here's a website with the rules and more info - if you're interested: http://www.buncorules.com/ It's a lot of fun - oh, and did I mention that it doesn't require much thought and therefore it's easy!

 

[auntlynne]

OK...what is bunko?!?!

A dice game

4 people to table: 2 teams

round one: try to roll 3 one's

round two: try to roll 3 two's

etc.

When the "head table" rolls 3 of a kind or gets a designated number of points, the losing team from each table gets up and moves to another table (and gets a new partner)

It was illegal in the 1920s - they had BUNCO squads that found the illegal gaming (& drinking) parlors.

Now it is played for fun (and drinking for some groups).

 

[mrosen]

mrosen - where in the Raleigh area do you live? We're in Holly Springs! We're going to fly out of Newark because it actually saves us some $$ cutting out the "RDU to connection airport" leg, since there do not seem to be any direct flights to anywhere overseas from here. My Brother and his family live in NJ so we get to visit with them for a few days before we fly overseas. And, I get to see my Grandmother who lives on L.I. I only get to see her about once or twice a year because she doesn't travel. Unfortunately, our visits are limited to when we can make the trek up there. When I knew we would be going to Europe this Spring - I kinda had it in my mind that we would drive to the New York area and visit family before our trip.

Hey everyone -- can you believe that we are almost at the 4 month mark!!! Wow, the time is going to go by so fast!

We live in South Cary so not that far from Holly Springs.

Nice you are swinging a family visit in with this cruise and then cutting out one leg of the trip to save on flight $.

We have a direct flight on American to London (through Heathrow) and then from there to Barcelona. I had preferred the American flight from JFK to Spain given the flight time options but apparently waited too long to book my travel and couldn't use the lower rate frequent flier miles for 2 of the tickets as the JFK to Spain flights were already booked on those type of seats. I didn't think 4 months out I would have hit that problem (oh well). If I had known in advance we would have been flying through London, we might have planned to visit London on the way back for a few days. Instead, we have a hotel in Barcelona for a few nights before and after and will spend more time visiting there.

It is hard to believe we are just about at 4 month countdown for this cruise.

 

[shushh]

Mmmm.... I wonder if bunco will still be fun if you don't drink?!!??!

Jeanne, I hope your move went smoothly and you managed to get settled before Christmas.

Well, I'm about to go to bed. It's Christmas eve tomorrow and the list of things to do is endless so I probably won't have time to come on the DISboards.

I wish everyone the merriest of Christmas with family and friends! And see you on "the other end" for more planning. By then the pay in full date will have gone past and we can finalised all the fun itty bitty bits!

Good night!

 

[Brooklyn]

Mmmm.... I wonder if bunco will still be fun if you don't drink?!!??!

Jeanne, I hope your move went smoothly and you managed to get settled before Christmas.

Well, I'm about to go to bed. It's Christmas eve tomorrow and the list of things to do is endless so I probably won't have time to come on the DISboards.

I wish everyone the merriest of Christmas with family and friends! And see you on "the other end" for more planning. By then the pay in full date will have gone past and we can finalised all the fun itty bitty bits!

Good night!

It does not really have to include drinking. It tends to be a game played as a social gathering which includes alcohol. The game itself can be played with or without alcohol. My assumption is it is going to have to be played during the day due to everyones different schedules at night. I for onw can't drink much during the day bc I will just fall asleep! I have played at all "sober" events and we still have lots of fun!!!

 

[NC_Tink]

Mmmm.... I wonder if bunco will still be fun if you don't drink?!!??!

Belinda - Absolutely!! Like Brooklyn said -- it's very much a social game -- no alcohol needed Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas as well!!

 

[skoi]

Howdy all.

Just a quick drop in to say hello and wish everyone who celebrates a Merry Christmas.

We haven't bought airfare, but I did look at prices and wow! Still high.

We have two huge meals planned for the weekend, plus constant drop in guests and a big to do at church since it's our Patron Saint's feast day on the 27th. So no rest for me.

Julie