6/6/07 med report...long

[sharolyn]

I feel like i need to be planning for something, ugh!!! I can not believe it is over already!!! What am I going to do with myself now??? I keep coming back here out of habit, and i guess I need to find disboards anonymous!!! Hello, I am Sharolyn and I am a Mickey addict.....help me someone please......

 

[sbassgva]

...as are the rest of us Sharolyn. Don't leave...we'll all still be here. Smiling, remembering, sharing...oh yeah...and planning the next trip. Keep it coming....

susan

 

[grizbuzz]

I've got to come clean myself...I've been talking to Susan to get info about Disney Vacation Club. Then I'd always have a vacation to plan

I've convinced myself it's a great deal...just have to convince the husband.

I believe you all did more sightseeing in one afternoon then we did the entire trip. And beautiful story about your sister. Thanks for sharing

 

[sharolyn]

I was driving down the freeway tonight and my car gas light came on, for a split second i reached down for my key to the world card to pay for gas...ugh....back to reality.

 

[pjtulsa]

Hi everyone,

I am feeling the after cruise blues, I keep thinking about meeting up part of the group for a drink, dinner or an excursion or two when I come back to reality and find myself at home doing the dishes, laundry or something that doesn't come close to the 10 days we were together.

For those of you I never had a chance to meet at the "Meet and Greet" I feel like I missed out! I wish I would have skipped the laundry room that day but we needed clean clothes for the rest of the week. I kept thinking we would all get together again and before I knew it the cruise was over!

For those of you I did meet, I feel so blessed! You all were so great and have left lasting impressions on my heart and in my memories.
Sharolyn for all her hard work planning the excursions and keeping us all together Thank You, Thank You, I wish I would have brought you a larger photo album!
John for giving me such a hard time,
Stephanie for shopping fun,
Rachel and Mike for their British Humor and promises for future trips together,
Colette and Mark for introducing me to a celebrity, and to
Brenda and Kevin for their neighborly kinship, we shall meet again!
And last but not least to the Rockette for taking such good care of my family in Florence & Piza Just in case you were wondering, her name is Jill & she was very nice!

I also wanted to thank everyone for the surprises left everyday, I agree with everyone that it was fun to find a gift waiting for us each day, I am not embarrassed to say that I even enjoyed it more than the kids did!

Well, I hope everyone is settled back in at home, I have already started looking into the next cruise. I have one on the table for Oct. 14 on Princess out of San Diego to the Mex. Riviera if anyone would like to come along???

Hope to talk to you all again soon,
Paula

 

[sharolyn]

Hey all, funnybunny posted a link under the June 6th meets above with photos of our cruise on June 6th. She has it divided into pics of the boat and pics of the ports. I wish is wasnt over!!! We also took close to 3000 pics of the cruise. Lots of great memories. Can not wait to do this again....and by the way, where is everyone???

 

[Disney86]

.... I heard a story about someone being lifted in Naples from a speed boat that they had hired....



I was on this same Med cruise and actually watched this story unfold. It didn't happen in Naples, it happened in Olbia. I was standing on the starboard side Promenade deck as we were leaving port in Olbia. The time was about 5:30 p.m. The "All Aboard" time for Olbia was 4:30 p.m. When the ship was about 100 yards from the end of the pier I could see a woman (late 20s or early 30s) running down the pier violently waving shopping bags over her head. Eventually she made it to the end of the pier and she was looking very frantic. One of the Italian police officers on the pier motioned her towards a small motor boat that was making its way to the pier. She went down a set of cement steps to the water level where after a brief conversion with the skipper of the little boat she got aboard the little boat. The Magic kept picking up speed.

The little boat followed behind the Magic on its starboard side for a few minutes and then it maneuvered to the port side of the ship. By this time a group of about 12 of us were standing on the Promenade Deck watching to see what would happen next. As a group we rushed through the ship and to the port side Promenade Deck. The Magic kept picking up speed.

The little boat came close to the stern of the Magic (about where the aft elevators are located) and about that time a door in the side of the ship opened below where we were standing. A Magic crewmember then threw a life vest onto the deck of the little boat and lowered down a rope. After that the crewmember lowered a rope ladder over the side of the ship and all the way down to the little boat. The Magic was now up to full speed.

The woman came out of the pilot house of the little boat and put on the life vest. She then put the looped end of the rope under her arms. Looking as about as terrified as a person can look, the woman began to climb the rope ladder up the side of the 80,000 ton Magic moving through the water at crusing speed. Eventually she made it to the open hatch and a crewmembers pulled her aboard. A Magic crewmember then tossed the rope back down to the little boat and the boat captain tied the woman's shopping bags to the rope. The crewmember then pulled her bags aboard.

Suffice it to say, I always gave myself plenty of time to get back to the ship before the "All Aboard" time.

By the way... Ever-Lee was our assistant server. We were at first seating and had Toni (from Spain) as our server. Ever-Lee was fantastic.

Were you on deck 7 by chance? There was a stateroom just up the passageway from our stateroom that had a sheet of paper attached to the door that had the name of 5 boys on it.

 

[FutureSailor]

Thanks for your great report. Would you mind sharing the contact information for your private tour guide? The more I read, the more I am convinced that this is the way to go.

 

[sharolyn]

Crazy story, thanks for sharing that one!! WOW, i would be terrified. It was crazy enough running for the boat in LaSpezia, I will not EVER be late for a boat again. Anyway, it is fun now seeing the pics of us running for the boat!! Very funny...but I am not sure I would be laughing if i had to be pulled up into the boat as that poor woman. WOW, that is just crazy.

The "boys" in our group were on deck 2, with all the room service trays in front of the door!! Yes, they ordered EVERYTHING off the menu one night. Granted, they ate it all, but still, the next morning when I woke up and saw the plates and covers stacked up to my neck, well...I am surprised they still do free room service. If they do not after the 6/6 cruising, sorry....

And finally, we used travelswithfriends.com and booked it with Ken Diaz from this agency. They really did a great job with our group and all that we wanted to do. I would go with them again in a second. We did have a big group, got a coach bus with our group, so I am not sure what happens with smaller groups. All I can say is that our guides, drives and vehicles were outstanding.

Good luck planning..... wish it was me again!!!!

 

[Voireon]

Hi everyone , glad you're all back - it was great wasn't it .

The don't do's took an hour to report to the teens and basically they allowed breathing

No alcohol , or smell of it on breath . No bikini tops ( t-shirts or more !) No assaulting characters , no P & A ( sorry from UK not sure what it is but kids got the message !) etc etc etc ........ my 17 yo DD didn't go often , most teens got into their own groups .

Best idea - meet a great group on the disboards like we did ... and make your own party !!

It's no "PDA" while inside of the stack, or during stack activities elsewhere. It stands for Public Display of Affection. This is a very strange rule. I even got in trouble for hugging someone goodnight once.


With all the rules, the stack was usually just a meeting place, then "we" all left and hung out somewhere else. I have been with RCCL, and there aren't so many bad rules.

I made friends with one of the counselors (Mary, who recently got promoted to some higher planner for the kids), and complained about it. Apparently, they had to make the rule because of fights started. Don't know what's wrong with some of these teens xD

And, just to let you know, I'm not one of the more cruel teens! Although, on the last night of my last cruise, we were up at 3AM in the hallways. One of the parents from the stateroom next to us came to yell at us, but then she ended up staying for a while and talking to us about politics. It was basically her and I arguing against some of my friends about America's major faults. She was a swiss lady, and since then I have respect for Switzerland. And I think immediate assumptions like that were one of the faults we were discussing =P

We went to bed at like 4:30AM.

It was tough getting up in the morning. *ugh*

And that was a great report! I can't wait till my next cruise...

 

[J&HSal]

It took me one month to finally get the resolve to get back on this board after the cruise. I'm soooo in the post-cruise blues. At least beach living kind of helps.

Great write-up Sharolyn. I'm too lazy to add our adventures since you hit about 90% of it.

I miss, in no particular order:

Good food, especially Palo. Running on deck 4. Disney shows. Waking up every morning in a new port and the anticipation of the view. Speaking Italian. Proper cappicino. Having my bed made for me. Good times with new friends. Oh the experiences... I vow that this trip will NOT be 'once in a lifetime'.

To stand where Nero publically executed the first Christians, to stand where Julius, Augustus, Trajan, etc. stood, to walk along Michealanglo's step's up to Capoltine Hill, to gaze at the 'Liberty Gate' (the gate where only freed or killed gladiators left the arena) from the Coloseum floor, to kneel 5 meters above St. Peter... I could go on and on as this experience was just in one city. It was truly, truly majical.

 

[sharolyn]

I keep having to pinch myself, did we really go to all these amazing places and have that much fun....did we???? The kids see pictures of the collesium and the vatican, or a picture of David and are like, we were there!!! It is just amazing...and meeting so many from the boards, and having them run down the pier to catch the last tender with us...how fun!!! I will never forget all the craziness that was the DCL Med Cruise of 6/6/07. Can we please do it again????