August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[Joanne Hollyoak]

someone on the dibb website used this company Quote
( LimoRent.com €86.51 per transfer including taxes from Airport to Port; and Port to Airport for family of 5 )
DCl transfer is about £18 pp

Hi I have a friend who is going to Barcelona in May and I have asked her to pick up some information for me at the airport. Its shocking they charge per person, thought it would be per journey lol

 

[mikki.young]

How much room is there in the staterooms for storing luggage? I'm guessing that I'll be able to fit a couple of suitcases at the bottom of the wardrobe? Anywhere else? I'm trying to figure out what types of bags to bring. We all going to have hand luggage as well. The kids have their own little cases which they fill with all the stuff they want to bring..

I think I recall fitting the cases under the bed but it was a long time ago! think the wardrobes were way to small for cases to go in.

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

Oh thanks, Kelly!! That's so nice of you...I'm sure I can get DH & DS to help me out a little if we decide to participate... At this point tho I am not sure if we have enough peeps who want to do it? Jeff said no, Luke hasn't replied & Karen is MIA...



Good work!!! Isn't trolling for peeps fun?!



I don't know anything about Virgin's luggage restrictions...the only restriction you have with DCL is that your hand luggage has to fit thru the scanners (just like at the airport).
Regarding the FE gifts...that's sort of a personal preference. Some people will give a gift geared toward who's in a cabin. Some will give the same gift to a cabin regardless of whether or not there are kids etc. You can do 1 gift for the entire cruise or you can do 1 thing for every day if you want. There really are no rules about it unless the group as a whole decides to set some rules. Last time I did it I had about 5 or 6 little items & I WAS going to go around & drop a little something every day. Then our organizer decided since we were a small group that she would assign a different day to each of us so that not everyone would do everything all on the same day - she wanted to be sure that the stuff was spread out over the course of the week. All but 2 families were also doing 4/3 back-to-back cruises so she wanted to be sure to include those peeps in the first cruise. So it ended up that we had our assigned day and then a few people decided to go ahead & add another day or 2 on top. I ended up just making goody bags & putting all of my stuff into 1 gift bag and going around just once. I think we had 10 cabins & it took about 30 minutes even with a copy of the deck plans that had all of the cabins marked.
LOL...big birthday...yeah!! But NO!! Not planning a party...it's on a Saturday of a holiday weekend here in the US...but DS will likely have a swim meet that morning so I doubt we'll plan to go anywhere...too far away to plan but maybe we'll go out for dinner or something...

So DS applied for an "Advanced Placement Power Scholars" program (APPS) at his soon-to-be high school for next year. We got his acceptance letter in the mail yesterday. I had my doubts about him getting in so it was a big surprise for sure. They only take about 60-65 incoming students into the program every year. He will be required to take 7 AP courses throughout HS and to maintain a 3.5 GPA and not miss more than 9 days of school in any 1 year (missing shouldn't be a problem). I am a bit nervous about it. I mean, he's a good student but this is going to be a rigorous program with LOTS of homework & tremendous pressure to do well. If he falls below the requirements for more than 1 semester he'll get kicked out. We're quite proud of him for getting accepted but I'm so scared!!

Thanks for FE update does seem alot to organise.
Congratulations DS. Im sure he will be fine, bet you can't believe he is starting High School, where does the time go.
Aaron starts school Sept so nice for him to have a lovely holiday to talk about when he starts.

 

[Anal Annie]

How much room is there in the staterooms for storing luggage? I'm guessing that I'll be able to fit a couple of suitcases at the bottom of the wardrobe? Anywhere else? I'm trying to figure out what types of bags to bring. We all going to have hand luggage as well. The kids have their own little cases which they fill with all the stuff they want to bring..

The staterooms are pretty small...I believe that you and I both have the steamer trunks in our rooms which have like 3 shelves in them to organize clothes - perfect for the kids stuff. The closet has 2 sides to it and there is a shelf across the top but the life preservers are up there. One side is then open from the hanging bar all the way down to the floor so you can hang longer garments. I have been able to store empty suitcases on that side tho too (especially if the cases nest inside each other). The other side is taken up in the bottom by a couple of shelves and the safe so you can hang shorter items above that. I can't remember but I THINK that 1/2 of that side also is open all the way to the floor - I think we were able to put all of our long stuff on that side and we just used the bigger side for luggage storage.

I have also put a smaller size carry-on suitcase on that shelf inside the closet too with the lid open & had access to a few things that I left in the suitcase (more like a junk drawer). Outside in the room, at the end of the closet there is a very small counter & shelf which is where they put the ice bucket & glasses. Below the counter are about 3-4 drawers. They're not real, real big tho - not nearly ENOUGH storage. There is also a cabinet above the TV. I found extra pillows & blankets in it & moved them to the closet shelf & used that for storage. The drawers in the desk are teeny tiny IMO. There is a sort of stool thing that sits in the opening of the desk. I have also been known to pull that out & put it in front of the window (when we had a porthole not a balcony) and put a suitcase on top of that. (I have never really fully unpacked everything.) The room becomes a real mess reallllly fast!!

Ummmm...let's see, yes, you can also store things under the bed - if your case is super deep you may be able to either 1) lift the bed up & put it under OR 2) open up the lid to reduce the depth & slide it under that way. I have put a garment bag and duffles under there before.

As of right now in addition to our carry-ons for our checked luggage I am planning on using 2 large duffles and 1 traditional suitcase that is a "suiter" that I can hang our dressy clothes in. We have 2 of this type of suitcase...I tend to overpack the larger one and it can go over the 50 Lb limit tho so my first attempt is going to be with the smaller one!!! We still haven't discussed what to bring for DH and DS for formal and semi-formal nights... DH doesn't have a suit as he has casual dress at his work...so he has 1 sport coat that he wears to weddings & funerals. Last time we did the 7 night cruise we rented the tux for him and I brought a suit for DS - but he was only 8 then so his suit was cheap and small to pack... I may look around for coats for him at Easter - I may find a sale on something...then I just have to hope he doesn't GROW between April and August!!

 

[Goofygoof]

Morning all ,

Joanne agree the kids clubs looks fantastic it will be great for the boys to play together ( read somewhere that its open till midnight , we're on deck 6 whereabouts are you peeps ?

Annie : dh not keen on packing a suit might suggest for him and ds a matching waistcoat and tie , hope he doesn't think its too silly
and by the way well done to your DS

Off to do some gardening and enjoying the sun while its lasts

by the way the proposed dates for spanish airports strike are :1st, 15th and 31st August so i guess we will all be in the clear

 

[Anal Annie]

Morning all ,

Joanne agree the kids clubs looks fantastic it will be great for the boys to play together ( read somewhere that its open till midnight , we're on deck 6 whereabouts are you peeps ?

Annie : dh not keen on packing a suit might suggest for him and ds a matching waistcoat and tie , hope he doesn't think its too silly
and by the way well done to your DS

Off to do some gardening and enjoying the sun while its lasts

by the way the proposed dates for spanish airports strike are :1st, 15th and 31st August so i guess we will all be in the clear

The kids clubs are GREAT!! DS never wanted to leave!! They will LOVE it!! My DS will be moving up to the teen club this time. I hope he likes it as much!!

Deck 6 appears to be THE Maraurding Mates deck to be on!! Kelly and I are both in 5C's on the port side (right next door to each other) and I THINK that Karen is also in a 5C on deck 6. Since we're right next door to Kelly I am worried that she will hear us fussing about & DH's snoring!! I'm not sure what Jeff booked or where he is. I think I remember Luke saying he's in an inside room but I don't think he ever said on which deck. And Jeremy hasn't been back to verify that he even booked. NJ_Ohana is also MIA and so who knows about her & nobody else has said where they are. But speaking of Karen, I am getting worried about her - she's been absent for at least 3 weeks now so I might send her a PM to check on her. Seems odd for her to disappear for THIS long since she had been posting several times a week before.

Sounds like you must be having a touch of spring weather if you're out doing some gardening?! I am getting some mulch delivered this weekend so hopefully I will get outside soon to work. As soon as I get a realllly nice day I will have to go out & drain my pond & clean it. Not sure if my fishies survived the winter...I saw one the other day & I thought he was dead!! So I went out to scoop him out & he MOVED! Just not very FAST! I don't think he feels very good...might just still be cold tho. We're supposed to get like 3 inches of rain tonight (7.62 cm). We had tons of rain last weekend too so the ground is SOGGY SOGGY SOGGY!!! Not gonna be a pretty day tomorrow.

OK, NOW...what's this about a spanish airport strike?????? I need to hear more details so I can fret & panic over something else!! Is this supposed to be a one day event or long lasting??? I would vote for the 31st!!

 

[Goofygoof]

Cool popular deck 6 , we have an inside room on the other side aft i think its called,
hope you're fishie is ok Annie. I think i will be aching later from all the weeding i did today still good exercise
It was on the news that the spanish airport workers union are planning several strikes for most airports starting from easter throughout the summer 4 or 5 days each month till august so i think ( if they go through with it ) the strike wil be on all following days
20th, 21st, 24th, 25th and 30th April, 2nd, 14th, 15th, 19th and 20th May,
13th, 23rd, 30th June, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 15th and 31st July and 1st, 15th and 31st of August .... Shame that will ruin a lot of people holidays

 

[Kels Sem]

Cool popular deck 6 , we have an inside room on the other side aft i think its called,
hope you're fishie is ok Annie. I think i will be aching later from all the weeding i did today still good exercise
It was on the news that the spanish airport workers union are planning several strikes for most airports starting from easter throughout the summer 4 or 5 days each month till august so i think ( if they go through with it ) the strike wil be on all following days
20th, 21st, 24th, 25th and 30th April, 2nd, 14th, 15th, 19th and 20th May,
13th, 23rd, 30th June, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 15th and 31st July and 1st, 15th and 31st of August .... Shame that will ruin a lot of people holidays

MMM I think some of those dates will effect my Dad's golfing trip. He said that he might not go if the strikes would effect him. Mum & Dad got caught out last year with a strike in France on the day they were supposed to fly home and they had an awful journey back.. I hope they don't go ahead with it.

 

[Kels Sem]

There seems to be a few of us with kids around the age 4, 5, 6 mark. We should meet up and introduce them all so at least they may see a familar face in the kids clubs

We really don't know what to pack for DH for formal night either. His tux is too small for him now and we don't want to buy a new one. He has suits for work but hates wearing them outside of that. He also has jackets and pants. For DS I think will will just dress him in pants and a nice shirt & tie. He doesn't have a suit and I'm not buying him one when he will never wear it again. At least DD & myself will be easy.

Lee-Ann thanks for letting me know about the storage situation. I was also going to use to duffle bags and a suitcase.

Off to bath the kids now...

 

[mikki.young]

I just heard abpout the strike this morning - glad I misheard as I thought they said 22 days a month not 22 days in total! looks like we should miss the dates if they don't move thankfully.

We are also on deck 6 - no kids but a navigator balcony towards the aft. I think......

 

[Anal Annie]

Oh how neat that we're so many peeps on deck 6!! That would make the FE deliveries easier IF we do it!! I am always on the lookout for the easy way!!

I just sent Karen a PM to check on her since she's been MIA for so long...

Luke? Where are you these days?! Did you ever settle on a hotel for Barcelona?! What deck are you on!? Jeff?! How 'bout you?! Are we having a deck 6 party or what?!

OK, so this airline strike thing is BIG news isn't it?! How scary for some people who may not be hearing about this NOW and who may have no idea!! I wonder if someone should go start a thread to let other Med cruisers know!?! I sure hope it's only on those days. What a silly thing tho to mess up so many people. I wouldn't know what to do if I got stranded in a foreign country!! I hope this doesn't affect any of our peeps!! I sure hope it doesn't "spread" to other countries too! Goodness!!

OH, and since it's Wednesday and the Palma excursions still are not posted online I made my weekly call to DCL...they still don't know why they're not online yet - still holding at 16 on the list...

 

[mikki.young]

Autos Vilar will do pic-up/drop of to port and city. from the Barcelo it is 40 euros each way for the two of us. Doesn't sound too excessive. think it was the med ports on their own I saw them mentioned. Anyone else heard of them?

Think sun transfers are better for airport to hotel at 40 euros instead of 50.

 

[Goofygoof]

Kelly hope you're dad trip will be ok lets hope they dont go through with it
Mikki great advice abt transfers thanks
DS is having a cinderella themed ball at school today he is going as prince charming coudlnt find any reasonably priced Prince charming costume anywhere. its a lot easier for girls
Had to improvise and alter his cpt. Hook costume but it came out pretty good i think , at least he was happy with it
Cant wait to find out how it went when i pick him up
Have a good day everyone

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

Kelly hope you're dad trip will be ok lets hope they dont go through with it
Mikki great advice abt transfers thanks
DS is having a cinderella themed ball at school today he is going as prince charming coudlnt find any reasonably priced Prince charming costume anywhere. its a lot easier for girls
Had to improvise and alter his cpt. Hook costume but it came out pretty good i think , at least he was happy with it
Cant wait to find out how it went when i pick him up
Have a good day everyone

Hi were on Deck 6 aswell in a Inside cabin
How was the cinderella ball?
Red nose day next week and at Aarons nursery they are having a white tie event so need to buy an outfit so will come in handy for the formal night.
I hope we don't get delayed as we fly to Barcelona on the 13th and scheduled to arrive at 10.15am

 

[Anal Annie]

Autos Vilar will do pic-up/drop of to port and city. from the Barcelo it is 40 euros each way for the two of us. Doesn't sound too excessive. think it was the med ports on their own I saw them mentioned. Anyone else heard of them?

Think sun transfers are better for airport to hotel at 40 euros instead of 50.

Have you looked for any reviews of this Autos Vilar on any travel sites or Cruise Critic?! I've read some companies are no-shows...make sure you check them out good!! Don't want any stranded peeps!! I've seen other people say they've used the company that Kelly found so I might just stick with them.

Kelly hope you're dad trip will be ok lets hope they dont go through with it
Mikki great advice abt transfers thanks
DS is having a cinderella themed ball at school today he is going as prince charming coudlnt find any reasonably priced Prince charming costume anywhere. its a lot easier for girls
Had to improvise and alter his cpt. Hook costume but it came out pretty good i think , at least he was happy with it
Cant wait to find out how it went when i pick him up
Have a good day everyone

Sounds like a cute day... Did he have fun?

Hi were on Deck 6 aswell in a Inside cabin
How was the cinderella ball?
Red nose day next week and at Aarons nursery they are having a white tie event so need to buy an outfit so will come in handy for the formal night.
I hope we don't get delayed as we fly to Barcelona on the 13th and scheduled to arrive at 10.15am

Another deck 6'er!! This is really quite a coincidence!

Well, so I had a totally frustrating day today worrying about this stooopid airport strike crap. I had not purchased trip insurance yet as I was waiting to finish piecing everything together so I could have a final total first. Sigh. I spent almost all day trying to find an insurance that would cover our flights should these strike days get out of control & get expanded to include more days or something. NOBODY will cover our flights under the trip interruption coverage should something happen to them because of the strike. I really hope that none of our peeps have any trouble. I mean, I don't know how reliable these proposed dates are or if they tend to STICK to them once they announce them. Also don't know what the odds are that they'll settle the whole thing before it goes on that long. But I want to get this policy stuff figured out & get it purchased SOON. I want to email the romeinlimo people again & double check their cancellation policy first - I want to see if I need to include their totals in my insured amount.

OH, and I sent a PM to Karen yesterday & got a quick reply back...she has been really sick for the last 3 weeks & hasn't been up to chatting...let's hope she's up to checking in again with us soon. She's missed all the action with the new peeps!!

 

[Goofygoof]

Morning peeps

DS enjoyed the school party apparently he was a big hit with the princesses will try to post a pic not sure if it will work though

I think that comapny Autos Vilar has some good reviews on cruise critics

 

[LNRP]

Morning peeps

DS enjoyed the school party apparently he was a big hit with the princesses will try to post a pic not sure if it will work though

I think that comapny Autos Vilar has some good reviews on cruise critics




That's looks great! I've been trying to find a prince costume for my DS. Since DD will have a princess dress...he needs a prince costume. I found a online site that tells you how to make a prince charming outfit.

We're on deck 7 and currently have 1st seating for dinner. The kids might have a hard time staying up late since we are 2 hours ahead. 8:30pm will feel like 11:30pm to them.

It's finally a warm day and the snow is slowing starting to melt. It make it to 29F/-2C.

 

[mikki.young]

He looks great!

we might take our pirate gear - we got some for the Pirate and princess party and mine is light enough to pack although dh might just take the headgear!


May 31 by mikki.young@btinternet.com, on Flickr

dh is carrying Figaro while I have the stunt kitten!

 

[Goofygoof]

Lnrp : glad its warming up for u , my cherry tree is fowering already we had a little taste of spring here
Mikki love your outfits really cool
x

 

[Anal Annie]

Great pics peeps!!! Some of you look to be a leeetle craftier than I am!! I can't even hardly put a button back on a shirt!! Well done!!

Lisa - BURRR!! Moscow sounds COLD!!! Our weather keeps coming & going but I guess that's spring for ya. Warmish (50's/60) one day & 40's the next...our cherry trees here on the National Mall are predicted to bloom the last week of March... We have 1 cherry tree out back but it's a different variety...doesn't usually bloom until late April / early May. We have a Saucer Magnolia (some call them a tulip tree) that will start blooming soon too...but sometimes it gets frosted 'cuz it blooms so early. Makes me so sad to see the buds turn black or the blooms turn brown if they've started to open. I think our climate is just a tad bit too chilly for it. It would probably do really well a couple hundred miles further south from here. Got my fingers crossd it doesn't get ruined this spring...