7/9/11 - Summer Magic in the Med

[lauritagoddess]

I know it's almost 2 years away, but I'm so excited about this cruise. I had dummy booking that I made onboard last year when we were on the EB PC Repo and yesterday my TA moved it to the med cruise. It's just my son and I, who'll be 9 when this cruise rolls around.

Who else will be joining us?

 

[tinkerbell_29]

You beat me to it I was just getting ready to start a thread for this. I'm traveling with my mom Nancy and my brother Matt. All adults. This will be our second med cruise we sailed with Disney the first time they were over and loved it. We had a Baltic cruise booked but due to some medical issues had to change to this cruise. I'm looking forward to it because they are going to the ports we loved and added some new ones.

Melissa

 

[lauritagoddess]

I'm sorry you're missing out on the Baltic, but how cool that you'll be getting to go to the Med for a second time, especially since you'll get to experience some different ports. I'm looking forward to hearing about your prior cruise. I wonder how many people on the cruise will be former Med cruisers.

 

[tinkerbell_29]

We really enjoyed the first med cruise. It was actually our first cruise ever so we made a few mistakes but are definitely going to be doing things differently this time. Last time we did not go over to Barcelona early enough. There is a lot to see there and you need time to get over the jet lag. We also went straight home after the cruise. We were so tired that the flight home was miserable. This time we are doing 3 nights before to sight see and get over jet lag and one night after. Barcelona has a great hop on hop off tourist bus that goes to almost all the major sights and has narratives of what you are seeing in English. The airport was a nightmare. They do not believe in lines at all and getting through customs was really confusing. Last time we booked our hotel on our own and needed to get a taxi. You have to wait your turn for one and the driver spoke no English. I had a picture of our hotel and the address in Spanish to show him. This time we booked through Disney so we would not have to worry about that.

Melissa

 

[lauritagoddess]

I'll have to keep that in mind about maybe booking an extra day in Barcelona at the end of the cruise. I had figured we'd go straight from the cruise to the airport. We'll be coming from London before Barcelona. This will be my son's first trip to Europe, so I was planning on spending a week in London before the cruise and then maybe a couple of days in Barcelona. I just have to see how much time I can get off from work and how much this will all cost me.

 

[tinkerbell_29]

Jet lag won't be a problem for y'all since you will already be over there. We booked the day after because last time we were at the airport by 9 am and our flight did not leave until four. We could not even check into our flight when we got to the airport because it was so early. That and we were so tired from the cruise which is not a relaxing one that it would have been nice to catch our breath before dealing with customs both in Barcelona and back in the US.

Melissa

 

[lauritagoddess]

Did you do the DCL transfers last time? Do you know if you can use the transfers going back to the airport if you don't go directly from the cruise to the airport?

 

[tinkerbell_29]

Last time we went straight to the airport. We also did. Not book anything but the cruise through dcl. This time we booked everything through dcl and were able to book transfer from the hotel to the airport after the cruise.
Melissa

 

[miksilver]

I will be joining you guys on this cruise. YEAH!!! I'm so excited, even though it's pretty far away. I've never booked a cruise so far in advance, but I wanted to cruise Disney in the Med. and this one works for us.

It's myself, Kim my DH, Chris and DD, Chelsea who will be 6 when we cruise. I just have the cruise booked, nothing else.

I don't know how long we will be staying before or if we will do a stop-over in England before or after our stay since my DH's family (my in-law's) are over there. I haven't cruised the Med. before but am an avid cruiser and traveler with 7 cruises under my belt and one coming up soon.

I look forward to chatting with everyone!

Kim

 

[lauritagoddess]

Kim, welcome!! I've never booked anything so far out either, but this worked well for us too. I find it kind of strange though, I'd like to research flights and try to figure out our pre-cruise stay in London, but it's just too far out. I do figure though it gives me plenty of time to get my son interested in the ports and to learn about them.

 

[tinkerbell_29]

Welcome Kim! We have booked this far out before especially for the bigger cruises. It gives you time to pay for the cruise and to plan. We went to the med with Disney the first time they went and loved it. It is not a relaxing cruise but it is a lot of fun and a interesting way to see some of these ports of call and see where you might like to go back to some day. For excursions we will do almost all DCL excursions due to the fact that a lot of things are a long way from the port. The only place I know we will do on our own is Villefrance the train is easy to use and quick.

Melissa

 

[miksilver]

Thanks for the welcome.

Since the cruise is so far out I haven't even begun any cruise research yet. I am a crazy vacation researcher and will probably know tons about each port we are going to and what options there are. I'm looking forward to a travel vacation -- lots of culture, fun and adventure.

I have a short DCL cruise coming up for Thanksgiving and am focusing on that one right now. There are a lot of logistics involved with that cruise since we are travelling with my Mom who has a lot of health issues including trouble walking and is on portable dialysis and my brother is mulitply handicapped as well. There are travel wheelchairs to buy before we leave, scooters to rent, handicapped rooms to ensure we have, private transportation to book (to avoid buses which are uncomfortable for my Mom), park tickets to get... The list seems to be getting larger and larger, not smaller I also have to finish arranging my other brother and sister-in-law meeting us for the cruise part of the trip. They already had a trip to Amsterdam planned before this trip came up and they arrive back from Amsterdam the day before the DCL cruise! But, since Mom is paying for the cruise and trip (can't beat that ) what Mom wants, Mom will get on this cruise. I think after this one, planning this Med. cruise will be a peice of cake!

Kim

 

[lauritagoddess]

WTG for your mom on paying for your Thanksgiving trip, but the logistics sound crazy.

I love doing the trip research and planning, it's almost as much fun as the actual trip itself. And my Disney nut of a son loves it too. He was making up a list for Santa yesterday and he asked Santa for annual passes to WDW and to DL.

 

[tinkerbell_29]

Never done a Thanksgiving cruise before. We were on the magic last Christmas and loved it but the seas were rough. Even though we are adults our mom still pays for the biggest portion of trips like this because she wants us to still travel as a family. My dad passed away 5 years ago so we are all she has left. I agree with you though since mom pays mom gets the trip the way she wants.

I am an obsessive planner especially when it comes to anything Disney. To me it just builds the excitement about the trip.

Melissa

 

[miksilver]

WTG for your mom on paying for your Thanksgiving trip, but the logistics sound crazy.

I love doing the trip research and planning, it's almost as much fun as the actual trip itself. And my Disney nut of a son loves it too. He was making up a list for Santa yesterday and he asked Santa for annual passes to WDW and to DL.

Logisitics are crazy, but doable. It's mostly that I'll worry about her the majority of the trip and not be able to enjoy WDW as much as I normally do. I have to make sure she doesn't stress herself too much and I watch her like crazy to make sure she's fine. She's the type of Mom who doesn't want to say that she's feeling bad because she doesn't want to "spoil" or ruin the fun for everyone else. What she needs to understand is that we've all been the WDW before, will go to WDW again and it's no big deal if we miss anything.

Oh, and my DD has already begun her xmas list as well. If she sees something that she wants in a commercial she will take out an imaginary list, pretend to mark down what she wants and finishes it all off with a big "Check!" that she says really loud.

Never done a Thanksgiving cruise before. We were on the magic last Christmas and loved it but the seas were rough. Even though we are adults our mom still pays for the biggest portion of trips like this because she wants us to still travel as a family. My dad passed away 5 years ago so we are all she has left. I agree with you though since mom pays mom gets the trip the way she wants.

I am an obsessive planner especially when it comes to anything Disney. To me it just builds the excitement about the trip.

Melissa

My Dad passed away about 5 years ago as well . I know what it's like when your all your Mom has left. I also work with my Mom in our family business so things can get a little more stressed sometimes. Oh, and my DH works with us too.

So I guess it sounds like all 3 of us are obsessive planners, and especially obsessive Disney planners. It's normal to me . Most of my other friends can't understand why I am on a message board talking to other people a year and a half before the cruise even begins. They just don't "get it".

Kim

 

[lauritagoddess]

Logisitics are crazy, but doable. It's mostly that I'll worry about her the majority of the trip and not be able to enjoy WDW as much as I normally do. I have to make sure she doesn't stress herself too much and I watch her like crazy to make sure she's fine. She's the type of Mom who doesn't want to say that she's feeling bad because she doesn't want to "spoil" or ruin the fun for everyone else. What she needs to understand is that we've all been the WDW before, will go to WDW again and it's no big deal if we miss anything.

Oh, and my DD has already begun her xmas list as well. If she sees something that she wants in a commercial she will take out an imaginary list, pretend to mark down what she wants and finishes it all off with a big "Check!" that she says really loud.



My Dad passed away about 5 years ago as well . I know what it's like when your all your Mom has left. I also work with my Mom in our family business so things can get a little more stressed sometimes. Oh, and my DH works with us too.

So I guess it sounds like all 3 of us are obsessive planners, and especially obsessive Disney planners. It's normal to me . Most of my other friends can't understand why I am on a message board talking to other people a year and a half before the cruise even begins. They just don't "get it".

Kim

Hopefully you can slow the pace down for her so she doesn't try to push herself too hard. It's great though that your mom wants to do this with you. My dad is disabled and pretty much house bound now and my mom won't go far from him, but even then I can't imagine her trooping all over WDW.

It's so true about other people not getting it with the Disney planning. I have one friend who's as much of a Disney nut as I am, but she's the only one. And the longer until the trip, the more time to obsess over everything.

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added a link to your thread on the main index page. Have a great cruise!

 

[tinkerbell_29]

Got a call from IC yesterday we were able to upgrade to a cat 3 midship right off from the elevators. I am so excited we have been on the wait list for one of these for almost every single cruise and it has not come through. It will be nice not to be stuck in a small cabin with three adults.

None of my friends understand why I'm planning a trip so early or why I'm talking to people on line about a trip that is so far off. I've tried to explain but they just don't get it.

Melissa

 

[miksilver]

Melissa -- That's great!

I'm still excited because I got one of secret veranda rooms for my family. Cat 7 price for a Cat 6 room.

 

[lauritagoddess]

A Cat 3 upgrade, that's wonderful! And the secret veranda room too. We're in a Cat 9A, which is the old Cat 8. I was going back and forth over whether to get the veranda or not, but decided to save the $$ since we're going to have our time in London before the trip.