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

[skoi]

Sorry if I've missed welcoming anyone. I'm a pretty incompetent thread starter since it's only six pages and I think I've missed at least one new shipmate, possibly two.

So if I've missed you, welcome aboard. I've been really scattered and busy lately trying to teach the four kids at home, plan for vacation, and keep up with my Arabic tutor who is amazing and really thinks I'm much smarter than I am.

Julie

 

[Happy Goofy]

My husband and I are retired and will be taking our 4th Disney cruise. We are going over on the transatlantic one and continuing on the April 24 Med. Anyone have any suggestions for us. Any retirees going? We will be on deck 2 catagory 9.

 

[skoi]

Welcome Happy Goofy. I'm overwhelmed by everyone doing both the TA and the Med. I don't know if I could do that. I'd get too used to level of service and be so unhappy when I got home. I'd have to turn the kids into dining room staff and hire a chef.

Anyone coming from the US book flights yet? We still haven't, but we did upgrade our cabin from an 11 to a 7. It was pricey, but after seeing the 11 the kids were in last week, I decided to go for it. It was nice, but a little dark for us.
However, the price on it wasn't much more than we originally were going to pay for the 11, so that's okay.

I heard the hotels in Barcelona were very expensive. I feel sorry for you Belinda, with your large group.We were going to do the TA repo last time because the prices were so low, but for five to stay in Barcelona and then fly back to the US was way more than the cruise. So we didn't go.

Julie

 

[skoi]

Hope everyone's having a great weekend.

We're almost back to normal after our trip, but youngest dd is still moping about how she misses the Disney cruise. She's going to be really mad when she realizes we're going on one without her.

If everyone could check in at some point, we'll know who's still aboard. I know we lost one family, so I'm curious if anyone else has gone.

Thanks,
Julie

 

[skoi]

Anyone know how early you can board the ship?

Still looking for a decent, not too expensive hotel that sleeps three.

Julie

 

[shushh]

Welcome back Julie! Glad to hear that you had a great time.

Been busy of late as I started working again last week. Surprisingly still hard to leave my baby "behind" even though its my third. Just a quick note to say that we are still on booard!

 

[shushh]

Anyone know how early you can board the ship?

Still looking for a decent, not too expensive hotel that sleeps three.

Julie

Wouldn't mind knowing boarding time as well!

Before I ditched the whole hotel idea, I looked into alot of hotels. The AC Diplomatic seems quite well located and nice. THey have triple rooms (I asked specifically) and were more reasonably priced than others.

 

[NC_Tink]

Hey everyone! We're still on board too! Just got off the Magic this past Saturday -- absolutely fantastic trip! We had great weather, really fun excursions, our serving team was awesome, our kids' counselors in Lab and Quest were fantastic. We absolutely loved our cruse and can't wait to be able to feel some Magic again in April!

Haven't booked my flights yet -- read somewhere in my "research" that a good time to book airfare is about 4 months in advance of your trip. Of course, if the airline you're booking has the ability to "show seats" via its website and you notice that the flight you want is looking like it's starting to get full - then you might want to purchase earlier. I figure it's a gamble no matter what - but my DSis-in-law went to Italy this past summer and informed me that she booked her airfare about 6 -7 months in advance and noticed that the airfare dropped significantly a couple of months later (yes, she was bummed).

Has anyone booked hotels yet? I was out on the main forum and there's a thread titled "Barcelona Hotels". It looks like several people have already booked their hotels for next spring and summer. I guess I'll get into "hunt" mode this week and at least put a reservation down somewhere. On my internet perusal this evening - I noticed that some hotels don't even show any information regarding vacancies past December. But, I guess I can make a ressie and always cancel if I find something better (AKA - cheaper )

Okay - off to take some benadryl or bonine or something to make me feel a little less like my house is swaying on the ocean. Good night all!

 

[mehaul]

Hey everyone! We're still on board too! Just got off the Magic this past Saturday -- absolutely fantastic trip! We had great weather, really fun excursions, our serving team was awesome, our kids' counselors in Lab and Quest were fantastic. We absolutely loved our cruse and can't wait to be able to feel some Magic again in April!

Haven't booked my flights yet -- read somewhere in my "research" that a good time to book airfare is about 4 months in advance of your trip. Of course, if the airline you're booking has the ability to "show seats" via its website and you notice that the flight you want is looking like it's starting to get full - then you might want to purchase earlier. I figure it's a gamble no matter what - but my DSis-in-law went to Italy this past summer and informed me that she booked her airfare about 6 -7 months in advance and noticed that the airfare dropped significantly a couple of months later (yes, she was bummed).

Has anyone booked hotels yet? I was out on the main forum and there's a thread titled "Barcelona Hotels". It looks like several people have already booked their hotels for next spring and summer. I guess I'll get into "hunt" mode this week and at least put a reservation down somewhere. On my internet perusal this evening - I noticed that some hotels don't even show any information regarding vacancies past December. But, I guess I can make a ressie and always cancel if I find something better (AKA - cheaper )

]

I haven't booked flights yet either, but I have booked the hotel in Barcelona. I booked the hotel 2 nights before the cruise and 1 night afterwards. This will give me more flexibility when it comes time to purchase airfare.

 

[Happy Goofy]

I am new to this site and enjoy it very much. My husband and I are retired and are trying to get as much information as possible for this trip. What are fish extenders ? When we did the Panama Cruise I was into the door decorations ( being a retired elementary teacher helped ) and I already am planning themes for my door. We will be on Deck 2 Cat. 9 same area we had for Pamama. We love the big porthole window and we got a good rate because we booked it on board.

 

[Happy Goofy]

I can't seem to enlarge the pictures on the World of Mouse web site. Do you know if anyone on that cruise booked the continuing one? We have the same stateroom for both and was wondering if we have to pack up between cruises.

 

[mehaul]

I can't seem to enlarge the pictures on the World of Mouse web site. Do you know if anyone on that cruise booked the continuing one? We have the same stateroom for both and was wondering if we have to pack up between cruises.

I spot checked a bunch of the links and they all seem to be working. If you have a problem with a specific picture I can check it.

 

[NC_Tink]

Good morning all! I spent almost all day yesterday on these boards trying to catch up on everything that I missed in the week I was gone. Things move way to fast on some of these boards! I'm almost thankful that things are still a bit slower over here

Julie - I just made ressies for 3 nights before the cruise in a 2 bedroom apartment - MH Apartments Sagrada Familia. I thought the prices were reasonable considering what I saw out there for hotel rooms, etc. I booked through venere.com (hopefully I'm allowed to post the website here ) I'm still looking for a place to stay for one night after the cruise. I'm trying to find somewhere reasonable that's closer to the airport - figuring our flight will be early on the 6th - don't want to travel far.

I am new to this site and enjoy it very much. My husband and I are retired and are trying to get as much information as possible for this trip. What are fish extenders ? When we did the Panama Cruise I was into the door decorations ( being a retired elementary teacher helped ) and I already am planning themes for my door. We will be on Deck 2 Cat. 9 same area we had for Pamama. We love the big porthole window and we got a good rate because we booked it on board.

Happy Goofy! How awesome that you get to do the transatlantic and follow it up with the Mediterranean. I would love to do that, but with 4 of us - just not in the budget As for questions regarding how it works for two B2B cruises - I believe that you will be able to leave your luggage in the room - if you have the same room on both cruises. Only you will have to disembark for a short time and then reboard with the rest of us.

The best way to give you information on Fish Extenders is to direct you to the experts You can find everything you need to know here: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33184281&postcount=2 and more information here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607 and lastly, how to make a no sew version is here: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30302583&postcount=609 Basically they are a fun way to do a gift exchange which incorporate the fish hooks that are outside of each stateroom.

mehaul - I can't seem to link to your website? I keep getting broken connection or server errors. It's probably my computer - and I'm going to try to reboot my connection now to see if that works.

Have a happy Tuesday everyone! Only 207 more days to go!!

 

[mrosen]

Wouldn't mind knowing boarding time as well!

Before I ditched the whole hotel idea, I looked into alot of hotels. The AC Diplomatic seems quite well located and nice. THey have triple rooms (I asked specifically) and were more reasonably priced than others.

what does triple room mean? sleeps 3 or something else? we are now booked on the 4/24 cruise and we have 4 people (2 adults, 2 children - 11 and 10 at time of sail). we will be flying in early and need to pick a hotel. looks like we have to book 2 hotel rooms so interested in advice on options where we can get a room that fits 4 of us at a more economical rate than 2 rooms. also looks to me like booking outside of disney for these hotels is cheaper as i checked prices of a few of the hotels directly to compare to disney rate.

 

[shushh]

Welcom to everyone new!

Lubi, we were so close to booking the MH sagrada familia!!! DH ended up choosing another apartment closer to the port near Placa Reial. At the moment, we too are planning to arrive on the Wednesday.

mrosen, by triple. I do mean a room for 3. Some hotels only have rooms for 2. I think its because of room size and fire regulations?!?!?!? someone please correct me if I'm wrong. We nearly died when DCL gave us the quotes for their hotel package. It was better when we got quotes direct from the hotels but not much better! So we ended up going the apartment option. I have found that in April most will let you rent for 2-3 days minimum. There's a large variety available.

I was able to access mehaul's website (and excellent site if you haven't already been!).

 

[NC_Tink]

I too was able to access mehaul's website last night - must have been a glitch with my computer Thanks for creating the website mehaul - great source of information!

 

[NC_Tink]

Does anyone know what it means by "sailing only" on the DCL website when you look at the itinerary for the 4/24 cruise? I probably should have found this out before I booked - but I'm never one for asking questions first. I jump and then figure things out

 

[shushh]

Yes, our sailing is the only one where the extra sea day is in a different order. I think in between Rome and Corsica rather than Rome and La Spezia.

Hope your weekends are going well. It is a long weekend here and it is cold (15 degrees) and raining. This after a 30 degree sunny day a couple of days ago!!! Go figure.

 

[NC_Tink]

Yes, our sailing is the only one where the extra sea day is in a different order. I think in between Rome and Corsica rather than Rome and La Spezia.

Hope your weekends are going well. It is a long weekend here and it is cold (15 degrees) and raining. This after a 30 degree sunny day a couple of days ago!!! Go figure.

Thanks Belinda! I figured it was nothing that would change my mind about this trip.

Is that Celsius? Because if it's fahrenheit - brrr - that's cold! Here, in North Carolina, we don't typically see those kind of temperatures until maybe January and February. Today we're waking up to a very nice and sunny 63 degrees (fahrenheit) and warming up to about 83. Gotta love autumn in NC!

Hope your weather clears up and gets warmer. Enjoy your 3 day weekend!

 

[skoi]

Okay, I'm not getting notifications. Glad the thread isn't dead.

We decided to stay at (don't laugh) a Holiday Inn Express because it had the best rate for a triple. The apartments were very steep when we looked at the extra fees (like cleaning, etc). We'll also be in three days before, so maybe we can look at a pre-cruise meet up? But maybe not, as we'll all be jet-lagged and the kids have a list of things they want to see already.

Maybe we'll even have enough adults for a Palo brunch group. Since dh is staying home, and the kids are too young, I'd hate to have to go and eat alone, but I will.

Julie