Another MAGICal Adventure - WBTA 2015

[Skylarr29]

Hello everyone!

We just booked! The kids are staying with Grandma and we will be celebrating our wedding anniversary. Very excited!

 

[PFlamingo]

Hello everyone!

We just booked! The kids are staying with Grandma and we will be celebrating our wedding anniversary. Very excited!

Welcome aboard!! How many years?

 

[Skylarr29]

Welcome aboard!! How many years?

It will be 7 years. We actually got married at Disney and honeymooned on the Magic

 

[epcot1stfave]

Hi we are pleased to say that we will be joining this cruise. We are Michael (epcot1stfave) and Patricia (hotfudgesundae). We did the 2010 WBTA and booked this one today. We are not big posters but are good readers so we tend to just lurk in the background. Hoping this one is as good as 2010 .

 

[PFlamingo]

It will be 7 years. We actually got married at Disney and honeymooned on the Magic

Congrats! We got married in Orlando and honeymooned on the Magic, too.

Hi we are pleased to say that we will be joining this cruise. We are Michael (epcot1stfave) and Patricia (hotfudgesundae). We did the 2010 WBTA and booked this one today. We are not big posters but are good readers so we tend to just lurk in the background. Hoping this one is as good as 2010 .

Welcome aboard!! Lurking is fine, but feel free to join in, too! I'm sure we'll have some people who are new to transatlantic cruising and will be looking for advice. We were on the 2011 and had a blast. I'm hoping people will volunteer to head up some of the activities like we had on the 2011 - from what I hear, many were similar to the 2010. But we have a little time to plan, so no great rush.

 

[Skylarr29]

Congrats! We got married in Orlando and honeymooned on the Magic, too.



Welcome aboard!! Lurking is fine, but feel free to join in, too! I'm sure we'll have some people who are new to transatlantic cruising and will be looking for advice. We were on the 2011 and had a blast. I'm hoping people will volunteer to head up some of the activities like we had on the 2011 - from what I hear, many were similar to the 2010. But we have a little time to plan, so no great rush.

Aww, I love sailing on the Magic and remembering our honeymoon.

We're new to transatlantic cruising but can't wait! It definitely adds to the cruise experience to chit chat with people ahead of time!

 

[PFlamingo]

Aww, I love sailing on the Magic and remembering our honeymoon.

We're new to transatlantic cruising but can't wait! It definitely adds to the cruise experience to chit chat with people ahead of time!

You're going to love it! The sea days are great. There will be loads of people here who have done TAs before, so feel free to ask questions.

 

[stringbag22]

Just booked this, my 2nd disney cruise. Haven't been on the first yet, which is WBTA 2014. Ha ha. Picking up new info all the time, especially from friends Sue/Richard(BabyDiver). Cheers

 

[babydiver]

Just booked this, my 2nd disney cruise. Haven't been on the first yet, which is WBTA 2014. Ha ha. Picking up new info all the time, especially from friends Sue/Richard(BabyDiver). Cheers

Hi Steve see you found the link then....

Looking forward to later this year sharing the 2014 WBTA with you both and hoping that you enjoy it so much you will keep this cruise too...

Great fun times ahead

 

[stringbag22]

Hi steve see you found the link then.... Looking forward to later this year sharing the 2014 wbta with you both and hoping that you enjoy it so much you will keep this cruise too... Great fun times ahead

 

[Cruisedistyle]

When can we put our names down for brunch, champagne girls etc

 

[PFlamingo]

Just booked this, my 2nd disney cruise. Haven't been on the first yet, which is WBTA 2014. Ha ha. Picking up new info all the time, especially from friends Sue/Richard(BabyDiver). Cheers

Welcome aboard!! Any friend of Sue and Richard... You'll love the WBTA. We did the 2011 and it was fabulous.

When can we put our names down for brunch, champagne girls etc

When someone volunteers to organize them!

Seriously, if someone would like to organize an event, don't be shy!

Champagne Girls is a TA tradition. Palo group brunches have been popular, too. If you would be interested in organizing a private mixology or tasting event, feel free to make a suggestion. In the past we've had Martinis, Mojitos, wine, beer... It just depends on what DCL is willing to work with us on. We could definitely use someone to head up coordinating dining for people who want to sit together or sit in the same area in the dining rooms. Any other ideas for events or activities?

Don't worry if you've not organized something before. There is lots of info out there, and people who can offer advice. If you're not familiar with Google forms, I can get you set up with that. Makes organizing super-easy.

 

[JAM113]

So excited to have booked this cruise from the beginning. The past cruises, DH has taken his time considering it, while I watched the prices go up! We were hoping for the May 2015 TA, but it leaves 2 days before DD1 graduates, so I was happy to see the dates and pricing for this fall into place.

It's just DH (Nick) and I traveling, and although it will be our 5th cruise, it's our first TA, so I'm a little nervous to make sure we get the overseas portion planned correctly. We are celebrating our anniversary as well... 25 years.

Looking forward to chatting with everyone in the meantime.

Jenny

 

[PFlamingo]

So excited to have booked this cruise from the beginning. The past cruises, DH has taken his time considering it, while I watched the prices go up! We were hoping for the May 2015 TA, but it leaves 2 days before DD1 graduates, so I was happy to see the dates and pricing for this fall into place.

It's just DH (Nick) and I traveling, and although it will be our 5th cruise, it's our first TA, so I'm a little nervous to make sure we get the overseas portion planned correctly. We are celebrating our anniversary as well... 25 years.

Looking forward to chatting with everyone in the meantime.

Jenny

Welcome aboard and congratulations!!

I just book the cruises when they come out, then cancel when DH vetoes it. Better to ask forgiveness...

Take a look at the links on the first page for Barcelona information. I found it to be a super-easy city to navigate (even with severe jet-lag), and everyone was friendly and helpful. There will be quite a few people here who have done TAs before, so feel free to ask questions.

 

[Skylarr29]

Thanks for all the links! I'm going to have to give those a read along with my Rick Steves book on Barcelona. I'm having some twinges of guilt and considering bringing our eldest two.

 

[PFlamingo]

Thanks for all the links! I'm going to have to give those a read along with my Rick Steves book on Barcelona. I'm having some twinges of guilt and considering bringing our eldest two.

I really like Rick Steves's books. I thought his Barca book was very helpful. Reminds me, I'll need to find that again. (There's so little time! )

Are you taking the kids on this year's WBTA? They probably wouldn't want to go again, with so few ports and all.

 

[Aggiegrl]

Hi guys. I just booked us on this cruise and hope to stay here. I'm wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew.

We will have our 3 kids with us...twins that will be a month shy of 4 and an almost 6 year old. We've booked connecting deluxe insides for the 5 of us...slightly cheaper than a family verandah and more room. My parents should be along too in another cabin, and I'm going to try and convince my MIL to come in our cabin.

I organized a huge FE on our last cruise, and I'm still recovering. Lol. Not sure if we will participate this time as it was a lot of work and we came home with so much "stuff" we didn't know what to do with it!

Can you guys tell my about your TA FE experiences? I assume the gifts are quite different since people are concerned with luggage on a TA. Our last cruise was out of Galveston so many were driving to the port and could haul large boxes and such on board.

Also...anyone able to get first seating for dinner? I'm only able to get second right now, which doesn't seem right.

 

[PFlamingo]

Hi guys. I just booked us on this cruise and hope to stay here. I'm wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew.

I organized a huge FE on our last cruise, and I'm still recovering. Lol. Not sure if we will participate this time as it was a lot of work and we came home with so much "stuff" we didn't know what to do with it!

Can you guys tell my about your TA FE experiences? I assume the gifts are quite different since people are concerned with luggage on a TA. Our last cruise was out of Galveston so many were driving to the port and could haul large boxes and such on board.

Welcome aboard!

I organized the FE on the 2011 WBTA, and I'm organizing this one. I think we had around 75 cabins - can't recall for sure, but it was a lot - so we broke it down into groups of about 20 cabins, with the option of participating in multiple groups. Most people were in just one group, but a few of us were in all the groups. If we end up in a similar situation on this cruise, we'll do it the same way. It was great. Most people kept things simple and fun.

I'm a huge proponent of simple gifts for FEs, in the original spirit of the exchange. I think a lot of people look at the elaborate gifts some people give, and they're intimidated or decide not to participate because they can't afford extravagant gifts. If people want to do something elaborate, we can always have a Secret Mickey exchange in addition to the FE. Some people are also intimidated by the handmade gifts, but nothing says gifts can't be "store bought." I made mine, but my favorite gifts were the pens I received with the cruise logo on them. I always need pens.

I prefer to keep the rules loose. I don't assign days to deliver or anything else. It's a vacation, after all. If people want to give more elaborate gifts, they are welcome to do so, but I've read some ugly comments on FB from people who felt they weren't adequately reciprocated for their gifts. That's definitely not what FEs are supposed to be about. I'm sure we won't have anything like that here! At least, we'd better not. I taught middle school for 11 years and I know how to deal with bad behavior.

Okay, that was a long answer, but basically I want people to have fun with this and not feel obligated to go beyond what they can afford or feel intimidated by the idea that their gift won't be adequate. I hope that helps!

 

[babydiver]

It's just DH (Nick) and I traveling, and although it will be our 5th cruise, it's our first TA, so I'm a little nervous to make sure we get the overseas portion planned correctly. We are celebrating our anniversary as well... 25 years.

Looking forward to chatting with everyone in the meantime.

Jenny

Hello and welcome Jenny and Nick.

What a wonderful way to celebrate your 25th Anniversary by being on the high seas....(well, I sincerely hope the seas aren't high). You will love the at sea days as Disney has so many things going on it's usually very hard to choose what to attend and the days go by so quickly.

Keep an eye out for when things start to get organised here on the DIS and get your names down.

Welcome again and look forward to sailing with you.

 

[Ukdisneyfan1976]

Hi guys. I just booked us on this cruise and hope to stay here. I'm wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew.

We will have our 3 kids with us...twins that will be a month shy of 4 and an almost 6 year old. We've booked connecting deluxe insides for the 5 of us...slightly cheaper than a family verandah and more room. My parents should be along too in another cabin, and I'm going to try and convince my MIL to come in our cabin.

I organized a huge FE on our last cruise, and I'm still recovering. Lol. Not sure if we will participate this time as it was a lot of work and we came home with so much "stuff" we didn't know what to do with it!

Can you guys tell my about your TA FE experiences? I assume the gifts are quite different since people are concerned with luggage on a TA. Our last cruise was out of Galveston so many were driving to the port and could haul large boxes and such on board.

Also...anyone able to get first seating for dinner? I'm only able to get second right now, which doesn't seem right.

The 2011 WBTA was our first ever cruise and were had no idea about FE gifts, but we made and brought things that were quite light and relatively small to pack.
We also participated in a candy exchange and the Secret Mickey, so needless to say we still ending up bringing back lots and lots of wonderful gifts and candy.

We've done shorter cruises since then and found the FE gift giving was a lot more rushed to get them delivered before the end of the cruise. That's the great thing about all the sea days on a TA, plenty of time to take it easy delivering to lots of cabins.

We are having to refrain from having ideas this far out of what to make for gifts

One of the best things we took part in on the 2011 WBTA was the Champagne Girls, lots of fun , giggles and a little bubbly to boot