5/12-5/26, 2007- LIVE from the first MED repo cruise! Now adding PICS! :)

[Marypoppinsiam]

I accidentally stumbled upon the magic docked at the Strait of Gibraltar (if anyone is awake at this crazy hour - I'm not supposed to be). I went to the webcam to prep it for whenever the Magic docked not knowing it would be there.

http://www.llanito.net/webcam.htm

Just wanted to add that it's very pretty with the sun rising on it and the city.

Thank you for that website. The Magic is still there and it was great to see her.

 

[kugalbelle]

I accidentally stumbled upon the magic docked at the Strait of Gibraltar (if anyone is awake at this crazy hour - I'm not supposed to be). I went to the webcam to prep it for whenever the Magic docked not knowing it would be there.

http://www.llanito.net/webcam.htm

Just wanted to add that it's very pretty with the sun rising on it and the city.

Hi everyone,
I managed to capture the Magic arriving into Gibraltar this morning off the port's webcam.
The video is up on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LQ2wgzdwa8
(Couldn't get to capture the stream so this is video footage of the PC screen - sorry it's a little bumpy!)

 

[icunurse_celeste]

When I was in the Spa Villa, they had drained the tub by the time my facial was over and they were filling it for the next people while I had my fruit and tea.

Thanks for the info! Good to know.

Thanks to everyone who is posting about their trip! It has been great to read and has gotten me even more excited about getting on the boat on Saturday!

 

[Michelle2]

Hi everyone from Gibraltar!
We had a great time today, and I wanted to post a few pics. My internet minutes are starting to run low, wonder why? hahah. The pics take time to load, and I talk to my kids while they do, and that racks up...

And you know what's funny?? The Davidson drifters blog, they are our next door neighbors (in the beautiful category 3 next door). I just went to take a look at it, and recognized them, although have not seen them too much. I loved seeing their pics, looks like they had some great excurisons too!

Anyways here are some pics from the beautiful Gibraltar! Will post a more detailed report later. And as for pics, I will add more to my previous posts when internet is no longer a problem, so continue checking back.... I will post links to each day's posts later---when I have time to go back through and find them.

Here is a picture of the Rock while pulling into port! Sorry it's kind of blurry

Here is a view of the ship from the top of the Rock (Europa Point)

And here is a great shot of the port, and I thought the monkey looking down on it was cute! Also, you can see the mountain of Morocco in the distance! (the one that is to the left of the Monkey's head).

Will somebody PLEASE get this monkey off of my back??? He wanted to have it on his back, he was just very apprehensive once it was there!

 

[Barbossa]

Wow, what great pictures. Again, thanks for all the great posts!

 

[icunurse_celeste]

Your son is super cute, thanks for the photos. I'm sure he will remember this for the rest of his life!



Does anyone know where the general Med. thread went? I just found out that the shops surrounding the port should be open, even on Sunday and thought I should post it there....does anyone know where it is?

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Love the pics.....

 

[kugalbelle]

Thanks for the great pics.

 

[CottontailCurl]

Hi everyone,
I managed to capture the Magic arriving into Gibraltar this morning off the port's webcam.
The video is up on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LQ2wgzdwa8
(Couldn't get to capture the stream so this is video footage of the PC screen - sorry it's a little bumpy!)

Hey thanks for taking the time to sit there and do that for so long! That was pretty cool and I think the guys who are on the magic will get a kick out of seeing it from that angle when they get home.

 

[PrettyInTink]

GREAT pics. I especially like the monkey ones.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

GREAT pictures! Thank you for sharing.

 

[disneymom7851]

Those pics are wonderful. My daughter is cast member and it makes me happy to see "where she is" This has been a great trip report.

also, kugalbelle - how lucky are you to be on board for 35 days. Hope you have a great time

 

[kugalbelle]

Got video of the Magic leaving Gibraltar today from the webcam ....
Up on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3_7TstT8EM

 

[Marypoppinsiam]

Thanks for the youtube videos!

 

[cruiseletters]

Thanks so much for your reports and the pictures are fabulous, I can hardly wait until we get on board. Have a wonderful time for the remainder of your trip. Robin

 

[Michelle2]

Day 12: Gibraltar--- May 23, 2007

Today started off with a no no, and something we have never done before. We slept in on an excursion day??!!

It started out really well with me getting up at about 6:30, because I wanted to film us docking. I love to see these new, inaugural ports of call, and capturing the horn going off as soon as we are docked.

Everyone else (especially Disers) are up there nice and early too, which today I saw A LOT of people. I would have been up earlier to see us go through the Straits of Gibraltar, but I knew it would be so dark, it would be hard to see. I came to find out later on, that you could see the lights of the cities on both sides, so it was possible to see it. When I was on our balcony at about 6:00 I was watching the lights, so maybe that was it….
We docked really early at about 7:00. It was so awesome seeing the Rock, and the city all around it. I was going to get breakfast, but was so tired, I ended up going back to bed. We did not have an excursion planned, and figured since we were doing the Rock (and only that) on our own, we would be ok getting a later start. DH said that the cable car up the rock did not open until later anyways…like 9:30 or so. Sounded good to us!

Everyone was slumbering so soundly, that I just jumped back in bed….problem is once you go back to sleep after not much sleep the night before, you fall asleep rather hard. My wake up call went off, I reset it, it went off again an hour later, and I never reset it again. Before you know it, it was 11:00! I was not too freaked out since I knew what we wanted to do was about a half day excursion anyways.

We got up and ready, and got DS up and ready, and headed off of the ship.

OK, this next part, I am pretty embarrassed about, but if it will help someone else on the westbound repo, then it is worth it.

We were bamboozled by a cab driver….ok I said it. Now, usually I have an excellent common sense (street smarts) probably of almost anyone I know. I don’t get scammed. I can see a trickster a mile away. Well put me into the “dumb tourist” bank that these guys cash in on.
Now thank goodness, it was not an outrageous amount, but it was a matter of principle, know what I mean??

Well, please do not laugh. We honestly got our countries mixed up, and did not remember (or didn’t care to bother with) the research about the costs of taxis here. We asked how much to go to the Rock? We knew to ask the amount, and agree upon it before getting in (wrong wrong wrong…..wrong country) and he said it was 20 euros. We were used to St. Thomas, and 5 dollars a person was pretty good for a taxi to Coki beach for example, but we did not know how close the Rock really was. I guess we thought it was farther than it was….L
So we figured that was just what it was (grrrrr) and got into the taxi.
Looking back, I realized he took us on a lot of side streets in residential areas, to make it LOOK like it was farther away! Grrrrr! I will tell you how we realized we got swindled/overcharged a little later, and what the MOST you should pay for a taxi to the Rock should be. Please west bounders take note so you will be prepared. I don’t want this guy/other cab drivers bamboozling another diser again if I can try and help it. L

We got to the cable car station and the line was really long, and was not moving. There were these independent taxi companies soliciting business right on the curb. (The line was backed out way out to the curb. This ended up being a good thing, because they got filled faster.
They were telling all of the people the benefits of going through them instead of on their own up through the cable car. Here are the reasons and you can kind of know what you want to do once you get there. Something we did not know in advance.

A. The line for the cable car was easily 40 minutes long.
B. Once you got up there, you had hours of walking up and down hills to get to all of the locations you wanted to see. The cable car only took you to a certain point, and it was up to you to get to the other sites you wanted. Which were about 3 other locations, and we wanted to see them all.
C. We had a tour director that would give us information, and that saved money on those headset things. I was pretty sure they were very knowledgeable about the area, and sure enough they were.
D. They were also saying that they would be able to get a monkey on our shoulder so we could get pictures. I did not dare do THAT on my own. LOL

All of these things sold us! They said that you did not realize how much walking there was involved until you were actually up there. And sure enough, they were exactly right. We were very grateful in DS’s sake that we did this option with a taxi driving us --even as a group of 8 everywhere. We did not want to take him on huge walks uphill for hours.
It was 25 euros per person, with Chase being free, J I asked the other people in the cab, and that was what they were paying too, so at least I knew we were all on the same page. After the taxi, I was making sure.

We went up a lot of winding roads, very very narrow. These are the same roads that everyone has to walk on while doing it on their own. It was pretty scary passing so close to people walking along the sides, some being young children, or strollers, etc.
Our driver was telling us all about the area on the way. We stopped at the “End of the World” the pillars of Hercules. It is the closest point to Africa from Spain---24 kilometers. So we were able to get out and take pictures.

Then he drove us to St. Michael’s cave and was telling us all about it. He warned us not to buy anything in the shop there, that it is half as cheap elsewhere in the city. He also said that the apes there were not as tame as the ones higher up, and to be careful of them, sometimes they could bite. He assured us we would see some higher up, and that the problem was since there was no one to look after them, you had to be careful around them. And sure enough as soon as we got out, they were everywhere. They were SO CUTE!!!! They seemed to know the driver. He gave them the rest of his banana. And remarked how after one dropped the peel, another came up and started eating it. He said they must be hungry today. They even let him pet them, but said it was because they knew him, and he fed them here and there.
We went into the cave, and he said he would meet us on the other side. There are tons of tunnels throughout the Rock, but the military has possession of them, but allowed people into that particular one.

The cave was beautiful. It looked like the inside of a Disney ride, except it was natural, and not made and designed to look real by imagineers. These were real stalagmites and stalactites (spelling). They were the most beautiful caves I have ever seen. They even had an amphitheater in there. Afterwards, we just looked in the gift shop really quick, and there were even some monkeys in the courtyard there too.
Sure enough, as soon as we got out, the driver was there waiting for us. That was convenient.

We went up a lot more STEEP and windy roads, and passed people on the side, very narrow….And next went up to Europa point. The highest part of the Rock that you can go up to. There were a lot of other roads that went up to THE highest point of the Rock, but they were for military only.

Here is where the tamer monkeys were. They were so cute!! They would suddenly jump onto people. Some other independent taxi tours were there too. Some ladies would freak out when the monkeys would jump on their heads, There was one that almost got in a fight with another monkey while he was on this lady’s head. I truly did not want to leave. They were so cute. We went on up ahead and there was a feeding post for them up there. He said the biggest problem was there health since a lot of people would feed them chocolate and candy and things that were not good for them. I guess there are about 6 families or groupings on the Rock which constituted about 300 of them.
He found a littler one for DS to get his picture with (see the pic in my last post). He did really good, he was wanting a bigger, one but the driver said he wanted to find a littler one. He was very brave, and wanted the monkey on his shoulder, although in his pic he didn‘t seem like it LOL.
We all took a turn with it on our shoulder to get a picture. Some ladies wanted nothing to do with them LOL.

Europa point was beautiful. We were able to look down the other side of the Rock---the one with the sharp drop down. It also was some great views of the entire city, Africa, the Magic, the port, the airport, everything! Beautiful. I think this was the only location that most of the people going up the cable car went to, that didn’t want to do all the walking, and then would turn around and go back down. Try and see the fortress, and St. Michael’s cave too if you can.

We went to the fortress next, and he said to take our time, and we would meet back in 20 to 30 minutes or so. It was really interesting, showing how they fortified the Rock through these caves that were drilled with holes in the side of the mountain for cannons, and how they transported them up there and such. My DH liked seeing this part.
Of course there were more monkeys outside the cave. They seemed to be everywhere. We didn’t see any aggressive behavior towards any people though. No trying to steal things or anything like that.

When the driver took us back, while telling us about the political make up of Gibraltar, and what its prospects were in the future, I asked him how much a taxi should cost back to the port. He said for the 3 of us, it should cost no more than 3 or 4 dollars (we think he meant G. pounds). We asked, for each of us, and he said no, for the total of you 3 together…no more than 8 euros tops. Well, we paid 20. We felt so stupid, and told him how much we paid, and he felt bad that we were taken advantage of, and to remember no more than 8 euros from the port to the Rock, or vice versa.

Here is my advice for anyone wondering what to do on their own, if they want to save some money and not do the Rock excursion through the ship. So easy to do.

1. Walk to and from the Rock on your own! It will save about 16- 20 euros (roundtrip). And it is so easy, and about 40 minutes, but was such a nice and pleasant walk. You also walk past a main shopping area, and the Trafalgar cemetery (those that are honored for dying in the battle of Trafalgar), and the Glass blower shop, which is the only shop where the products are made in Gibraltar. They have a back room where you can watch them make the glasses, vases etc.
We did not shop, so we do not know if they were good deals or just tourist traps.

2. Do an independent tour. They will take you everywhere that the ship excursions will, for less than half the price.

***Note on this--- When we were coming out of Trafalgar cemetery, a short ways away from the cable car station, we saw some cast members from the ship being approached by a tour operator offering to take them not only on the same tour as us for 12 euros per person, but also would take them back to the port afterwards. We do not know if this is because it was later in the day (about 2:45 pm) or if it was because it was a little ways off of the main taxi location at the cable car station….who knows? I know the cast members were concerned about getting back to the boat on time 5:00 pm since they were in the shows, but I know that our tour only took about 2 hours. I told them that their tour was a great price since we had paid 25 per person, so I think they were going to do it. Since there time was limited, there was no way they would be able to wait for the cable car, plus walking to all or even some of the sites. Plus they would be taken directly to the port afterwards. We did not get that.

SO, maybe try bartering for less per person, or on the walk over, even better, try getting a taxi tour before getting to the cable car station, the taxis will say Independent Rock tours on them. Trafalgar Cemetary was where we saw some.
Or, go a little later in the day when they might be more willing to go down in price. They were offering the 12 euros per person, not being bartered for it, so we were figuring since it was getting late, they were just discounting and taking what they could get. By the time we were there, it was about 1:00 pm---probably not late enough yet.

Try not to get the tours directly from the pier, and this could be a problem with the other farther locations as well, I don’t know, but often they will make you sit and wait until their shuttle/van was completely full.
That other blog site that is the Davidson drifters? I found out they are my next door neighbors. I talked to them today, and they ended up getting out of a shuttle because the driver kept saying that another family was coming, and they waited and waited. The driver was just saying that so he could keep them until he found more people to fill his van. The good thing about the cable car location is that the vans fill fast, so you don’t have to sit around and wait. I don’t think that the vans are air conditioned, so in August it could get kind of hot….

Another thing that was fortunate for us, and this was a trend on this cruise, that although the sea days were windy and a litte chilly and sometimes overcast, in all of our ports Tenerife, Cadiz and now Gibraltar ALL of our tour guides said that they had had 2 full days of rain the days before we came. All of a sudden in each port on the days we arrived at each of them, they suddenly got sunny, and the weather was beautiful and warm. So I consider us very lucky, not once, but 3 times!

When we got back to the ship at about 4:00pm, we had about 2 hours to relax and get ice cream of course before having to take DS to the Lab, and going to dinner at Animator’s Palate.
Dinner was the Around the World menu and was really, really good. DH loved the China chicken with rice. And I had the USA prime rib…really good! And the appetizers of quesadillas and the teriyaki stir fried vegetables on the vegetarian menu was excellent! Our server (Sachin) brought us out all 5 desserts…didn’t even take our orders for it. They were all so good! But we also found out we had the Dessert buffet tonight from 11-12 am. Oy! More desserts, so we did not eat much, but tried them all from dinner.

The new show, When Mickey Dreams, is really cool for anyone who will get to see it! They use the exact music from Tapestry of Nations Parade, on the Illuminations cd. You know the “We are the dream seekers here to conjure for you” The show was a mix between Cirque du Soleil and Fantasmic. But I was very glad to be the first to see it. We had to battle for the front again, and it made me shudder to think of what tomorrow night’s Disney Dreams would be like. I am there plenty early enough, but people and even kids can be so sneaky and very pushy.
I am sad because there is a ventriloquist family cabaret tomorrow, so we might have to just miss it. That is where I really love matinees for.

We missed the Paradiso deck party, but it was just another dance party up at the Goofy pool. We had a ton of those, and our DS didn’t like dancing L

And the dessert buffet was good as always. Sorry for the blabbering, I just wanted to pass on the info I knew or found out the hard way. Please if you have any questions, just ask. I will be more available to the internet soon, since our trip only has a few more days.

Tomorrow:
Last day at sea
Disney Dreams
Final Jackpot bingo (We are going to try our first game of bingo!)

 

[sherrie]

Bless you Michelle thanks for that wonderful posting of Gibralter(sp?) makes me want to go see the monkeys right now.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Our server (Sachin) brought us out all 5 desserts…didn’t even take our orders for it.

Michelle - thanks so much for your trip report and the pictures. I have enjoyed reading about your adventures and seeing where you are.

We had Sachin for our server when we sailed Dec. 2005. How wonderful that he is still there. I'd love to see a photo if you take one with him. Who is your assistant server?

 

[DenverVal]

Thank you for the advice about the Gibraltar tours, Michelle. I don't understand though, the taxi tours drive you up the rock and transport you from site to site? We were going to do this on our own, but now I'm a little concerned about the amount of walking that you described.

 

[slindamood]

Thanks, Michelle. We are on the westbound and hanging on every word you write! We are planning to do GIbraltar on our own, so your advice is so very useful.