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

[skoi]

Lubi-
Looks right to me. We have tours booked on a few of those dates in those ports, so I hope it's right.

And I have extreme OCD and scatterbrainedness right now, so someone might want to make sure I know what I'm talking about.

Julie

 

[NC_Tink]

Lubi-
Looks right to me. We have tours booked on a few of those dates in those ports, so I hope it's right.

And I have extreme OCD and scatterbrainedness right now, so someone might want to make sure I know what I'm talking about.

Julie

LOL - Thanks Julie!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like they're going nuts. But, I think, you have more reason than I with everything you have going on!! When do you leave for Morocco? It's soon, isn't it?

 

[skoi]

We leave March 8th, and I've just started studying Arabic again. And Moroccan is so different than the standard Arabic I was learning before. Thankfully, my tutor is from Morocco, so he's helping me, but I really need to study. My teacher is also from Morocco, but he's always teasing me about my Arabic, so I don't practice with him.

I'm so desperate, I'm trying to write dialogues for practice on my blog, hoping either my teacher or his brother or some other poor Arabic speaker will see it and help me out.

Julie

 

[susanowen27]

For anyone still wondering, DCL has booked us leaving Barcelona at 10:00 am on Delta May 6.

 

[Brooklyn]

For anyone still wondering, DCL has booked us leaving Barcelona at 10:00 am on Delta May 6.

So you are spending the night after the cruise? What hotel do they have you staying in? We are trying to find the best place to stay too. Right now we are booked @ the Best Western.

 

[susanowen27]

Sorry, I just hit the wrong key, we're leaving on May 5th, but last cruise we stayed an extra day at the Hilton Renaissance near the airport. It was really nice and the price was good, I think it was around $60.00, but that was 2 years ago. It was close enough that you could walk and there was a shuttle, but we were chicken and called a taxi.

 

[Brooklyn]

Sorry, I just hit the wrong key, we're leaving on May 5th, but last cruise we stayed an extra day at the Hilton Renaissance near the airport. It was really nice and the price was good, I think it was around $60.00, but that was 2 years ago. It was close enough that you could walk and there was a shuttle, but we were chicken and called a taxi.

Thanks for the info! I think we may have been on that Delta flight last time for the TA. We decided to spend the night after this cruise bc I hate rushing in the morning. I hate rushing period. We had a horrible experience at the BCN airport. We also booked Air Berlin when 2 bags were included so we opted to spend the night in the hotel vs the $200 just on bags. This way we can take our time in the morning and just relax at the hotel that day.

I will looking into the hilton. Thanks!

 

[susanowen27]

We paid the extra money to Disney, so we're expecting not to worry or rush. We'll see. We've not used Disney for air before, but I remember that the airport was a nightmare even leaving the next day. We arrived 2 hours early as it was an international flight, but no one was at the desk and they didn't arrive until about 45 min before flight time. We were concerned that we might be at the wrong place, but other people kept arriving and were going the same place as us. By the time they started checking people in the line was verrry long. But we made it.

 

[Brooklyn]

We booked through DCL last time and it was to put it mildly.....A NIGHTMARE!

We were dropped off VERY far from teh terminal with NO HELP at all for our bags. We had to be up and off the ship super early. We had to collect all of our bags to go through cutoms and drag them ourselves to the buses waiting outside the ship. The buses were a free for all. We kept going up to buses and they would say oh we could take 2 of you or 3 of you. We had to struggle to find a bus that would take all 5 of us. NIGHTMARE!

We were off the first DCL TA so hopfully that had to do with it. Hopefully they have worked things out. When we got to JFK and I called DCL to complain...they could have cared less. It was a terrible experience. Here's to hoping yours is nothing like mine but they have us scared!

 

[susanowen27]

That's not good news, but knowing that going in will help. Too late to change now, but great information for next time.

 

[shushh]

Susan, thanks for letting us know. That me feels better about booking my 1025 flight.

 

[skoi]

I just modified the Huey, Dewey, Louie logo:

Is there a way I can steal the clipart in the middle? Where did it come from, and how did you do that on Word?

Thanks.
Julie
(you can tell I'm getting serious. I'm thinking door magnets...)

 

[grlzmom]

For anyone still wondering, DCL has booked us leaving Barcelona at 10:00 am on Delta May 6.

Yeah! Thanks for posting this I have been waiting on booking my flights and now will feel safe booking a 10:45 departure.

 

[Michelle2]

Yeah! Thanks for posting this I have been waiting on booking my flights and now will feel safe booking a 10:45 departure.

I am so glad of this information too! DCL wouldn't tell me anything different either. Good to know!

 

[Michelle2]

We paid the extra money to Disney, so we're expecting not to worry or rush. We'll see. We've not used Disney for air before, but I remember that the airport was a nightmare even leaving the next day. We arrived 2 hours early as it was an international flight, but no one was at the desk and they didn't arrive until about 45 min before flight time. We were concerned that we might be at the wrong place, but other people kept arriving and were going the same place as us. By the time they started checking people in the line was verrry long. But we made it.

We went out the next day as well. You are right, even the next morning it was a nightmare. We arrived where there were not too many people ahead of us, and it got very long, very fast. Glad we got there when we did. With only 2 or 3 agents checking people in, it took forever. Glad we were near the front of the line!

We went through Swiss air....it was a nightmare for us too because some agents were making people limit their carryons to 8 pounds!!!! That in itself was taking people forever! But what could they do? They didn't know any better. We had to go and consolidate, check our laptop.
It was awful...then to get on the plane and see people with these HUGE carryon bags. I told the stewardess that there is no way that is 8 pounds, and I made them get our laptop out of the luggage. We needed it on the flight home. Stupid idiots.

I did not appreciate their own check in people not knowing their own policies. They said we would probably be denied through security, but that never happened to any of the others, obviously. I was furious.
Flyers at BCN beware. If they pull this garbage again, the lines will be massive long because some won't know that it is baloney. I hope that this time I am wrong and it is not an issue, but I am prepared to just ignore them this time.

 

[Happy Goofy]

We also booked with Disney thinking it would be easier. I hope they learned a few things from last time. We do not know our flight plans yet. We have to get back to Orlando so I am thinking they will send us to JFK and then to Orlando. Is anyone else going to Orlando?

Is there anyone that needs two more people in a van for Rome, Florence, Naples and any other of the ports? We thought we had something set up but it did not work out. We would like to share the cost with others and are pretty felxible on where we go.

 

[grlzmom]

We went out the next day as well. You are right, even the next morning it was a nightmare. We arrived where there were not too many people ahead of us, and it got very long, very fast. Glad we got there when we did. With only 2 or 3 agents checking people in, it took forever. Glad we were near the front of the line!

We went through Swiss air....it was a nightmare for us too because some agents were making people limit their carryons to 8 pounds!!!! That in itself was taking people forever! But what could they do? They didn't know any better. We had to go and consolidate, check our laptop.
It was awful...then to get on the plane and see people with these HUGE carryon bags. I told the stewardess that there is no way that is 8 pounds, and I made them get our laptop out of the luggage. We needed it on the flight home. Stupid idiots.

I did not appreciate their own check in people not knowing their own policies. They said we would probably be denied through security, but that never happened to any of the others, obviously. I was furious.
Flyers at BCN beware. If they pull this garbage again, the lines will be massive long because some won't know that it is baloney. I hope that this time I am wrong and it is not an issue, but I am prepared to just ignore them this time.

Michelle,

I think Air Lingus has a carry on weight limit now too. I think I read 12 or 13 pounds but I will go double check.

Swiss is about the same, maybe closer to 20?

Is this all new or old and not something enforced? 12 pounds is not much for a carry on

 

[grlzmom]

We also booked with Disney thinking it would be easier. I hope they learned a few things from last time. We do not know our flight plans yet. We have to get back to Orlando so I am thinking they will send us to JFK and then to Orlando. Is anyone else going to Orlando?

Is there anyone that needs two more people in a van for Rome, Florence, Naples and any other of the ports? We thought we had something set up but it did not work out. We would like to share the cost with others and are pretty felxible on where we go.

We will end up in Orlando too but did NOT book with DCL for air because they wouldn't provide the flight info and won't guarantee the seats together. I'm not in the mood for that, but the price they quoted wasn't bad at all considering it included transfers to the airport.

We will probably be on Air Lingus to New York or Boston and then Southwest to Orlando.

 

[shushh]

Brooklyn and Michelle2 your experiences at Barcelona airport sound horrendous. I really do hope they've fixed it and their staff appropriately trained. I read somewhere that the airport had a major expansion/renovation around that time (2007). Was that true? It's apparently better now...fingers crossed.

I know that for as long as I can remember carry on limit for most international flights out of Australia is 7kg (about 15 pounds).

Everyone here used to LOVE going the states because you can have 2 pieces of luggage!!! Its such a nice thing as its usually only one to everywhere else. It looks like that little bit of joy that I get when travelling to states will be gone now!

Hmmm....how to bring the shopping back home when i go in December?

 

[auntlynne]

Glad to get some DCL air info from Susan. Since they put you on that 10:00 flight, I'm just leaving us on the Aer Lingus 10:45 to Boston. Would loved to have been on the Delta to Atlanta and then one short flight home, but they weren't offering my hometown as an option. Instead, I'll have 4 flights to get home. Uggh!

We visited Iolani Palace on Wed before flying over to Kauai. The palace is the only royal residence located in the current US. Our guide really made for an enjoyable tour. After Honolulu (the island of Oahu), Kauai seems more like the tropics or a Caribbean island with its less-developed state.