7/13/13 ~~ Eastern Mediterranean Mouseketeers!

Hi all,

Meet and Greet confirmed for embarkation day, July 13, 2013 from 2:30pm - 3:30pm at Studio Sea which is Deck 4 midship. There will be a sign out front "Disboard Group Meet & Greet".

I look forward to "meeting you all" then. :yay:
Randi
 
We are in for the FE -- thanks again for organizing :) Can't remember if I've already confirmed, and apologies if this is a duplicate confirmation!

We had no trouble in 2011 getting the kiddos into care (clubs and nursery) before our adult-only off-ship time. Same with our Alaska cruise last summer. DCL is very considerate about what guests need with respect to their kiddos, we've found -- hence the repeat trips :)

Just changed up our Tuscany plans thanks to a pre-trip report we read here -- now we're even more excited, and our kids will get to visit a PASTA FACTORY!! They're not that into museums, but hey, pasta, that's another story ;)
 
Hi all,

Meet and Greet confirmed for embarkation day, July 13, 2013 from 2:30pm - 3:30pm at Studio Sea which is Deck 4 midship. There will be a sign out front "Disboard Group Meet & Greet".

I look forward to "meeting you all" then. :yay:
Randi

Great!! Will be fun to meet everyone face-to-face! :yay: Thank you so much for organizing this. :)
 
I am a DCL neophyte - and I only have one experience to talk to - but last time we were in the Med in 2011 my DS was 10 1/2 and he started off in the Lab but found his way to The Edge by the fourth day and never looked back. The CMs had no problem having him go to The Edge - they actually encouraged it. And my DS enjoyed the interaction a lot more as well.

Thanks for sharing this experience. It is good to know that maybe they aren't super strict about being exactly in the right age group. :) I guess we'll just see once we get on the ship, and my son will know to not expect one or the other (Lab or the Edge), but just that he'll be able to go to one of the kids clubs. :)

I am sure the capacity of the kids clubs has something to do with it, too. In other words, if they have a large amount of kids in The Edge, they may say even if you are 2 weeks away from turning 11, you can't come to The Edge because there are already so many kids to start with, but if they don't have a large capacity of kids in The Edge, they might allow him to go given he'll be so close to age 11, and if there is space.

But, it is great to know your son ended up going to The Edge and loved it! Hopefully our youngest son can have the same experience given he'll be so close to turning 11. We'll see. :) But, no matter what, he'll be happy... can't go wrong with DCL kid's clubs no matter what. :thumbsup2
 

Hi all,

Meet and Greet confirmed for embarkation day, July 13, 2013 from 2:30pm - 3:30pm at Studio Sea which is Deck 4 midship. There will be a sign out front "Disboard Group Meet & Greet".

I look forward to "meeting you all" then. :yay:
Randi

Randi you are a superstar:cheer2:

Let me know if there is anything I can do. I can't wait to meet everyone.
 
On the Fantasy, my DD had some friends that were close to 13 and they let them into the Vibe. I want to say they were about a month out. The parents just had to sign a waiver letting them into the older age group club. They eventually moved to Edge where they were more comfortable. Too many older kids in Vibe. My DD 11, tried Edge and felt there were too many big kids. I think it just depends on ages of kids on boat.

As far as port times, on the Fantasy the captain announced that the crew had earned an ashore day so we were able to stay in Port until 1 am in Costa Maya. In the Med in 2010, we were in Corsica and it was Napolean's birthday so the town was celebrating with fireworks. I believe that port day was extended so we could be in town for that. So there is always hope! We are doing some privates too and am a little nervous about making it back in time. I wish Rome wasn't shortened. We are going to Orvieto and that is a little ways out.

Thanks for setting up the meet! Can't wait to meet everyone.
 
In the Med in 2010, we were in Corsica and it was Napolean's birthday so the town was celebrating with fireworks. I believe that port day was extended so we could be in town for that.

I can only hope that they will do that for us on our day in Villefranche for the Fete Nationale fireworks.....I have been reading that they are spectacular. :thumbsup2


This is a write up about 2011 events:
http://www.fr2day.com/whats_french_riviera/whats-on-round-up-la-fete-nationale-and-some-fireworks

"The same evening, a procession of flower-covered, illuminated boats will take place in Villefranche's harbour at 9:30 pm. Organised by the Bateliers Plaisanciers and the Town of Villefranche-sur-Mer, the event, La Rade aux Lumieres (The Harbour of Lights) will be followed by fireworks."
 
I can only hope that they will do that for us on our day in Villefranche for the Fete Nationale fireworks.....I have been reading that they are spectacular. :thumbsup2


This is a write up about 2011 events:
http://www.fr2day.com/whats_french_riviera/whats-on-round-up-la-fete-nationale-and-some-fireworks

"The same evening, a procession of flower-covered, illuminated boats will take place in Villefranche's harbour at 9:30 pm. Organised by the Bateliers Plaisanciers and the Town of Villefranche-sur-Mer, the event, La Rade aux Lumieres (The Harbour of Lights) will be followed by fireworks."


Oooooh, fingers crossed that we stay in port to see this! The distance between Villefranche and La Spezia is not huge, so hopefully we could see this and still be in La Spezia by 7 AM the next day . . .:)
 
Ladies: any tips for outfit packing for this trip? I know there are some great threads on the main boards, but I am facing packing planning chaos here with 3.5 weeks planned in Europe. Specifically, I'm wondering how many on-shore/touring outfits, evening (non semi-formal/formal), and dressy outfits you're bringing for YOU (I can cope with the kids and DH!) ;)
 
Hi all,

Meet and Greet confirmed for embarkation day, July 13, 2013 from 2:30pm - 3:30pm at Studio Sea which is Deck 4 midship. There will be a sign out front "Disboard Group Meet & Greet".

I look forward to "meeting you all" then. :yay:
Randi

Thanks for doing this Randi! It will be great to finally meet everyone. :yay:
 
Ladies: any tips for outfit packing for this trip? I know there are some great threads on the main boards, but I am facing packing planning chaos here with 3.5 weeks planned in Europe. Specifically, I'm wondering how many on-shore/touring outfits, evening (non semi-formal/formal), and dressy outfits you're bringing for YOU (I can cope with the kids and DH!) ;)

Hey there,

Well, I don't have my outfits specifically planned out necessarily, but I do know for most of my port days, I will be wearing either skorts or shorts, a tank top and depending on what we have planned, I may bring a light jacket (if we go into air conditioned buildings...I get cold super easily especially if the A/C is really cold).

I also am bringing about 4 or 5 sundresses with me that will work for both days (at port, if the sundress is appropriate attire for what we have planned), and they will work well for dinners (both cruise casual and semi-formal).

As for formal night & Palo, this might change as we get closer, but for me, I'll probably bring (if I feel I have space) one strappy black cocktail type dress... it's light weight and doesn't take up much space.

I plan to wear things over again for sure. We actually will be gone for 5 weeks in Europe! So, we have a lot of planning to do in terms of clothes (we'll be in Italy, then the cruise, and then England), so my plan is to bring clothes for 7 days and just keep doing laundry.

As for sea days, I will probably just wear pool attire (swim suit/cover-up), for during the day, or a skort and a tank top if I'm not on the top deck enjoying the sun.

As for shoes, I'm bringing two pairs of good walking sandals that work for both sundresses and skirts/skorts as well as shorts, then a couple pairs of flip-flops (one casual pair to wear on the top decks when I'm in my swim suit/cover-up), and then I have a nice/dressier pair of black velour flip-flops with rhinestones on the top part that goes across my foot. I don't know if flip-flops really can even go in the "dressy" category, but I make it work. They actually look cute with my black strappy cocktail dresses (with nicely painted toenails, of course). :).

I'm bringing one pair of capri's to wear in Rome for so I can go into the Vatican, and then some sort of light covering to put over my shoulders for the Vatican, but will probably just wear a tank top in Rome when we aren't in the Vatican.

I'm also bringing workout clothes and my running shoes, so I can workout. :)

I will probably bring mostly tank tops or light t-shirts for tops (probably will be 5 tank tops and 2 or 3 t-shirts), shorts/skorts/skirts for bottoms (probably 3 skorts, 2 skirts and 2 pairs of shorts), though. And, I'm bringing a pair of long pants (like khaki type pants, so they look nicer, but keep me warm on a cool night or on the ship where there is A/C, or I may bring a nice pair of jeans instead... regardless, I will have one pair of long pants or jeans) and then probably 2-3 long sleeved shirts, too, for cooler evenings, or in-doors (because of the A/C), and then a comfortable track suit (or whatever people call those velour or terry cloth pants and zip up hooded jacket) sets that are casual, but look nice for casual to wear in the evenings or if we do have any cooler days on our trip (which might happen in England). :) The velour or terry cloth pants/zip up jacket is what I wear on the plane, actually... GREAT for travel because they are so comfortable and look nice, so I always have that set with me when we travel... just comfortable lounge type clothes, basically). :)

Overall, I'm not bringing a lot of clothes, and I plan on bringing clothes I can wear a few different ways (mix and match), and like I said, I plan on wearing the same things over again (just doing laundry). Also, a lot of the clothes I have are really light weight material so they won't be too bulky or heavy to pack.
 
Thanks, LovesToRun -- very helpful. It sounds like we are taking similar approaches, which always makes me feel better!

Speaking of loving to run...will we find you on Deck 4?
 
Wow! Great description... All I have to say is Ditto! I may bring one fancy type dress for Formal night and then the cocktail dress for Palo/semi formal. I may change my mind on that though and just stick with the cocktail dress and sundresses that I dress up.

I tend to over pack but am trying to stick with the 7 day rule and do laundry on board. So hard though.

A light jacket with a hood is a good choice. Last time we had a day of rain and ended up having to buy ponchos. I would add that to the list.

The capri's are good for dinning as well, you can dress those up if they are black or white with tank and cute jacket or sweater and rhinestone flip flops. I do that a lot.
 
Thanks, LovesToRun -- very helpful. It sounds like we are taking similar approaches, which always makes me feel better!

Speaking of loving to run...will we find you on Deck 4?


:cool1:

I will for sure be on Deck 4! However, in just the past 4 or 5 months, I have thrown in the towel for running (although, I do run just a tiny bit here and there, just because I do REALLY love to run!!!). I had a very bad ankle injury 3 years ago, and was in rehab 3 days a week for 11 months (not sure if I would be able to run again for about the first 7 months of rehab), but with perseverance and LOTS of hard work, I was able to run again (thanks to an amazing PT and Orthopedic doctor), and I DID run again and was so happy.... but my ankle has really never been the same... it's about as good as it will ever get at this point, and I found myself back in PT every few months to get my ankle worked on again. Basically, I just got tired of my ankle hurting from running and going back to PT, so last November, I made the choice to quit running as my main form of exercise, BUT like I said, I do run little bits here and there. I definitely am able to run, but I just can't run a lot, unless I want to have ankle pain, and I don't want any ankle pain on our trip. But, the good news is since I made the choice to stop running on a regular basis, I haven't been back to PT at all, and my ankle has felt pretty good! SO, it was definitely a GOOD choice, and I'm totally fine with it. :)

SO, a LONG answer to your short question is yes, I for sure 100% will be on deck 4 briskly walking laps, and *maybe* running a few laps here and there in the mix of walking. :)

I know there are other runners here on this Cruise Meet group, so I think there will be a lot of us on deck 4. My husband is a distance runner, too, so he for SURE will be out on deck 4 running... :)
 
Wow! Great description... All I have to say is Ditto! I may bring one fancy type dress for Formal night and then the cocktail dress for Palo/semi formal. I may change my mind on that though and just stick with the cocktail dress and sundresses that I dress up.

I tend to over pack but am trying to stick with the 7 day rule and do laundry on board. So hard though.

A light jacket with a hood is a good choice. Last time we had a day of rain and ended up having to buy ponchos. I would add that to the list.

The capri's are good for dinning as well, you can dress those up if they are black or white with tank and cute jacket or sweater and rhinestone flip flops. I do that a lot.

Ponchos are great ideas!! I am sure we'll bring those, too, just in case. Being from Seattle, we are VERY used to the rain, but it's always good to be prepared for sure and ponchos are light weight and hardly take up any suitcase space, so a good idea for unexpected rain at any port. :)
 
So sorry to hear about your injury! That sounds really rotten :(

I do a mix of run/walk intervals, which is a good tip on how you'll spot me on Deck 4 ;) I also often have a stroller with me, which is pretty funny when not having an actual jogging stroller, as I'll be in the Med! I did my first half marathon back in January - the Tinkerbell Half at Disneyland ;) Not planning another half as of now, but sorely tempted to do the Tink again next year!
 
So sorry to hear about your injury! That sounds really rotten :(

I do a mix of run/walk intervals, which is a good tip on how you'll spot me on Deck 4 ;) I also often have a stroller with me, which is pretty funny when not having an actual jogging stroller, as I'll be in the Med! I did my first half marathon back in January - the Tinkerbell Half at Disneyland ;) Not planning another half as of now, but sorely tempted to do the Tink again next year!

How fun that you did the Tinkerbell Half Marathon! I have heard that is a really fun race to do. Good for you!!! You should for sure do it again next year. :)

I'm sure we'll see each other on deck 4, and I love your stroller idea, and hey... as long as it has wheels, you can still do your run/walk with it. :) We are way past the stroller stage, but back when our boys were in a stroller, we never took the jogging stroller (we had a double jogger) when we travelled, but just regular strollers, or umbrella strollers (we had a double umbrella stroller since our kids are so close in age)... and, it is possible to run with an umbrella stroller, you know. LOL!! :thumbsup2
 
How fun that you did the Tinkerbell Half Marathon! I have heard that is a really fun race to do. Good for you!!! You should for sure do it again next year. :)

Hoping to! The registration opens when we are already in Europe pre-cruise, so we'll see :) DH is almost on board...he doesn't want to run it himself, but he's not sure about my training plan for the fall if I do it :rolleyes1

I'm sure we'll see each other on deck 4, and I love your stroller idea, and hey... as long as it has wheels, you can still do your run/walk with it. :) We are way past the stroller stage, but back when our boys were in a stroller, we never took the jogging stroller (we had a double jogger) when we travelled, but just regular strollers, or umbrella strollers (we had a double umbrella stroller since our kids are so close in age)... and, it is possible to run with an umbrella stroller, you know. LOL!! :thumbsup2

Wow, now that is dedication! I must admit that I've never run with an umbrella stroller before! We have a City Mini, which is at least a 3-wheel design -- handles Deck 4 well enough at my turtle pace anyhow ;)
 
Hoping to! The registration opens when we are already in Europe pre-cruise, so we'll see :) DH is almost on board...he doesn't want to run it himself, but he's not sure about my training plan for the fall if I do it :rolleyes1



Wow, now that is dedication! I must admit that I've never run with an umbrella stroller before! We have a City Mini, which is at least a 3-wheel design -- handles Deck 4 well enough at my turtle pace anyhow ;)

Oh, I didn't do like long runs and training type runs with an umbrella strollers... just on vacation if we had to run from point A to point B for some reason, etc, or if we'd go to a park or some place with smooth flat paved trails, we'd do a light jog, but that is about all you can do with an umbrella stroller in terms of running. :) But, as I say, if it has wheels, you can run (or lightly jog) with it. :)

Well, hopefully it'll work for you to sign up! It can be a lot to train for those bigger races and it takes family support (if you have kids), but you can make it a family event, too. :) Some of the longer races I trained for, my DH and my boys would meet me at certain points (in the car) to deliver me water on my long run days (which would be Saturdays). :) It was actually really fun for our kids (and DH enjoyed it, too) to drive to a spot and see me coming, the boys would get the water bottle out and they would call themselves the "support crew". Maybe your training can a family event (or maybe it already is). :)

Although, I did quit doing the longer races about 6 years ago because it became too hard with the kids getting older (and they started getting involved in sports, so I scaled down on the race/running lengths), and I had already done enough of the longer races anyway, so I just started doing shorter distances that didn't create any big commitment at all.

But, the longer races are definitely big commitment, BUT if you only do it once a year, and it's at Disneyland, so you can incorporate a trip to Disneyland with it... it can definitely become a family event! :) :) You get to run the race, the family gets to go to Disneyland... a win-win! And, often half-marathons/marathons have smaller kids races on the same day or the day before (like a 1K race), so then the participant's kids can also do a race the same day or the day before. :) And, that is fun for the kids! Not sure if the Tinkerbell Half-Marathon has something like that for kids.

Regardless, good for you for doing the race to even begin with!! 13.1 miles is not easy! :) :thumbsup2
 
The Tink Half was really the perfect family event -- 3 days at Disneyland was fabulous! We spent the day at the park after the half marathon -- I think we were at the park by 10am! I was wearing my fitbit that day and between the marathon and the park, I covered over 22 miles that day. It was CRAZY. Of course, I couldn't walk much at ALL the day after! ;)

Reminiscing really is making me want to go do it again!
 

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