August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[Anal Annie]

Annie, the company have come back already. They are auto vilar. Seem to have a good rep on cruise critic. They will do a party of 6 with two different drop off locations for 50 euros between us. Doesn't sound a bad figure. Let me know if you want me to book it. I think I may book them for all my transfers at this rate!

Thanks for the offer...sounds good...I'll let ya know...wanna make sure Kelly's OK with us ditching...she hasn't been on here in a couple of days but I just don't see the sense of her waiting around for us. I can't imagine that would be much fun especially with 2 little kiddos! I haven't heard of this particular company here or on Cruise Critic...did you find them on the Spain board over there?

hello everyone,

Hope your 're all ok sorry been mia last minute prerp and glorious sunshine here and DS off school for easter now, iam packing today as we're off to Egypt tomorrow woohoo will have pay the balance for our cuise today before we go .
Enjoy your Easter Holiday

xxxxx
shereen

OH have FUN, FUN, FUN!! Come tell us all about it when you get back!

Hi, I'm still here and feeling fine. Just got busy over the last few days with finalizing our taxes (ugh) and preparing for a 4 hour workshop I gave this morning. One more week of school, work, and sports until Spring Break. I sure wish I had put off the DC trip and booked a cruise instead. I am really more in the mood to be lazy then to tour museums, etc. We'll sneak in a few days at the beach at Hilton Head over Memorial Day weekend (end of May for you non-US folks).

Glad you're OK. Let me know if you decide you want to plan a DIS meet while you're up this way!!

I think we must be the ONLY peeps on this cruise that have NO plans whatsoever between now & the cruise. I am feeling so poor! Mikki's going to Bermuda, Luke just went to Spain, Jeff has another cruise coming up, Shereen is going to Egypt, Joanne just went to DLP, Karen's going to DC and HHI.... I soooo wish we could've slipped down to FL for a long weekend. But our AP's expired & the darned park tix are just so much...we went over Memorial Day weekend 2 years ago for DS's birthday and that was a lot of fun...but this year he has a band trip to Hershey Park on that Friday so it just wasn't going to work out for us. Then there is swimming 5 days a week... I am having some serious withdraw symptoms for that darned mouse tho!!!

OH, and I may have found another peep on Facebook! You know how I am always trolling for new peeps! I had posted on a DCL FB post to see if there were any other August 13 cruisers and this girl named Cheryl replied that she was going so I sent her a message to come visit us here!!

OK, off to heat up some leftovers before swim practice. Tonight's a long, late one (dryland 7:30-8 & water from 8-9:15 so I'll be out from 7-10:00).

 

[jd99]

I think we must be the ONLY peeps on this cruise that have NO plans whatsoever between now & the cruise. I am feeling so poor! Mikki's going to Bermuda, Luke just went to Spain, Jeff has another cruise coming up, ).

We are heading to Disneyland next week - going out to SoCal for an Easter trip and planning at least one day at DL - maybe two.

 

[Kels Sem]

Hey Annie, I don't mind if you want to hook up with Mikki for the return transfer. As you say there's not much point in us hanging around. When I first suggested it I just thought it would help with the cost with sharing but at that point I never thought about the breakfast thing.

Don't worry your not your own we're not going away on any breaks between now & the cruise either. I have spent way to much money on furniture for the house lately which has eaten up my spare cash for going away on any shorts breaks. We have also decided that we want to back to Florida on our holidays next year so we have to start saving for that as well. I think I need to win the lottery.

My kids finish school this Friday for just over a 2 week break. They are really looking forward to it..

Gotta go and pick Keira up now...

 

[mikki.young]

Think it was on the cruise critic message boards I saw them. Can't remember for sure! Just looked on those and they get good mentions but I seem to think i saw it somewhere else the first time round. Think I will definitely use for collecting us from the airport as they meet you by baggage claim so I don't have to hunt around too much at the end of a long day!

 

[esther1403]

And a BIG hello and WELCOME ABOARD Esther!! I do believe you are our first peep from Spain to join us!! Glad you found the DISboards!! That must be wonderful that you can depart from your own country!! Do you live anywhere near Barcelona?! I am full of questions!!! Are your DS and DD twins?! We have lots of other little pirates & princesses sailing too! So this is your 3rd DCL!? Did you do the other Med cruises or did you sail out of Florida?! I will add you to the first post on the thread!! Please come back to chat any time!!

Lot of questions, I try to answer everything. We live in Zaragoza, it is between Madrid and Barcelona, just in the middle. But my mum is from Barcelona. Yes, my DS and DD are twins, they will be five. Our first DCL was our Honeymoon we sail out in Florida, and last year we made Dover to Barcelona, a really nice cruise with our twins. This year the Med cruise, because the kids had lots of fun and we too, this are a really great hollidays for the family.

Sorry about my english, I normaly speak but I don't write much in english.

I hope to see some of you during the cruise, some of you have kids from similar age.

See you soon.
Esther

 

[esther1403]

Hi Esther, welcome aboard. My kids are similar ages. DS Nathan is 6 and DD Keira is 4 (almost 5). As Annie said there are a few kids around this age sailing.

Come along and chat any time.

Thanks. Yes they are similar ages. Last year my kids loved the Oceaneer Club. They still ask if they can go again. It is so nice and fun for the kids. And my DH and I, loved the Vista Spa.

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

We are heading to Disneyland next week - going out to SoCal for an Easter trip and planning at least one day at DL - maybe two.

Hi have a good time, we will all be expecting a Trip report now.
I loved your report and it was so nice to read it all in one go thankyou for sharing.
Lovely family photos, the pizza making looked good is there an age limit as my son will be 4.
Would of been nice if we was stopping off at Malta the sunset is lovely we had our Honeymoon in Malta and brought back some memories.
If anyone as not read this report take a look and follow the link on page 68
Thanks again

 

[Anal Annie]

Lot of questions, I try to answer everything. We live in Zaragoza, it is between Madrid and Barcelona, just in the middle. But my mum is from Barcelona. Yes, my DS and DD are twins, they will be five. Our first DCL was our Honeymoon we sail out in Florida, and last year we made Dover to Barcelona, a really nice cruise with our twins. This year the Med cruise, because the kids had lots of fun and we too, this are a really great hollidays for the family.

Sorry about my english, I normaly speak but I don't write much in english.

I hope to see some of you during the cruise, some of you have kids from similar age.

See you soon.
Esther

Well, I am glad you came back to chat some - I think it sounds like a good excuse for you to come practice your English!!!! Luke teaches Spanish so he's our resident translator!! Hummm...speaking of Luke...he should be reporting back from his little weekend trip to Spain.

Finally settled on some trip insurance and paid off our balance....went out to the DCL website & toodled around a bit to see how full we're looking. There's still some room for more peeps but there were no Concierge's, 4C's, 4D's or 11C's showing. There were Guarantees only available on the 11B's, 9D's, 9A's, 4E's and 5C's. Only appeared to be 3 11A's left...so I guess things could still change in the next day or two but I would guess most people have either paid off or bailed by now. JP!!!! Hope you get booked soon!!!

 

[west&east]

Paid our balance today too! gulp. After getting hit with an unexpectedly large tax bill, April is a rough month.
Had a short scare about dining arrangements. I pretty much knew we wanted late seating but back in October our TA suggested we request main dining to start because it is harder to get, and it would be easier to switch to late. So we decided we definitely wanted late and asked her to change it. She told me that we were wait listed! I told her how disapointed I was since we were following her advice. She apologized and said this hadn't occurred before and there was plenty of time to clear the wait list. Well in one day we did clear the wait list and have been confirmed for late seating. What a relief.

OK, better get some sleep so I will have some energy to work and make money to pay for this trip!

 

[Cumbley]

Hi I'm Cheryl and along with my family we will be going on our 1st Disney Cruise on 13th August! Cannot wait we are all really excited!

I will be with my hubby Grant and our two girls who are 8 and 5 tomorrow! We are from Staffs, UK.

Looking forward to picking up some tips from all you cruise experts!

Cheryl

 

[mikki.young]

Welcome Cheryl! It's my first proper Disney cruise too, I did a 3 night taster back in 2002. This one sounds like a lot of fun and there are certainly lots from the UK on it! What type of Cabin have you gone for? By chance many of us on this thread seem to be on deck 6 - is that your deck?

 

[Cumbley]

Welcome Cheryl! It's my first proper Disney cruise too, I did a 3 night taster back in 2002. This one sounds like a lot of fun and there are certainly lots from the UK on it! What type of Cabin have you gone for? By chance many of us on this thread seem to be on deck 6 - is that your deck?

Hiya, we are in an oceanview room on deck 1 I think (I read somewhere that it was the lower the better for travel sickness!)

 

[Kels Sem]

Hi I'm Cheryl and along with my family we will be going on our 1st Disney Cruise on 13th August! Cannot wait we are all really excited!

I will be with my hubby Grant and our two girls who are 8 and 5 tomorrow! We are from Staffs, UK.

Looking forward to picking up some tips from all you cruise experts!

Cheryl

Just wanted to say welcome aboard!

 

[esther1403]

Of course we would like to practice our english. It would be nice travel with disney, have fun and learn some english. Perfect hollidays for us.

I would try to write and chat, to practice.

Luke we are from Zaragoza, have you been there? and where are you from?

 

[Anal Annie]

Hi I'm Cheryl and along with my family we will be going on our 1st Disney Cruise on 13th August! Cannot wait we are all really excited!

I will be with my hubby Grant and our two girls who are 8 and 5 tomorrow! We are from Staffs, UK.

Looking forward to picking up some tips from all you cruise experts!

Cheryl

YAY! You found us!! I was afraid I might have frightened you off with my message on Facebook!! I found Joanne on Facebook too!! Welcome aboard!! I will add you to the first post on the thread!!

Of course we would like to practice our english. It would be nice travel with disney, have fun and learn some english. Perfect hollidays for us.

I would try to write and chat, to practice.

Luke we are from Zaragoza, have you been there? and where are you from?

OK, good!! You can practice your writing here any time!!!

I have been reading Rick Steve's Paris book and have been reading about dining in France...I am afraid that I will order something raw or something with an anchovy in it!!

 

[Cumbley]

OK two questions for those who have cruised before

1) Whats your top tip for new cruisers?

2) What did you pack that you wished you hadnt bothered with?

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

OK two questions for those who have cruised before

1) Whats your top tip for new cruisers?

2) What did you pack that you wished you hadnt bothered with?

Hi Cheryl welcome aboard this is our first cruise and a top tip I found on Facebook was to take a pillow case with you and some highlighter pens and drop off at guest services and they will have the characters names put on for you, what a great keep sake for the kids.
Annie have you seen this done as I don't want Aaron to be disappointed if they wont do it.

 

[Anal Annie]

OK two questions for those who have cruised before

1) Whats your top tip for new cruisers?

Oh gosh that's a hard one! Ummm...this is only our 4th cruise so I'm not an expert like Jeff is. He can probably offer the most tips. I wish I had known about the DISboards back in '05 before we cruised. I could've been so much more prepared if I"d been on the cruise forum. I spent so much time just trying to figure stuff out while we were ON the cruise. We didn't realize there would be a pirate night and we didn't realize what a bonus rebooking onboard would be 'cuz we didn't know we could just move the date. We thought if we rebooked we'd be stuck with that date. Now we know better about that. Just make sure you relax & find time to enjoy the ship. This is going to be a very port intensive cruise with a lot of time OFF the ship. Don't stress about naps & bedtimes. The kids will cope and when they DO go to bed they will sleep like babies.

2) What did you pack that you wished you hadnt bothered with?

Half of everything I packed! Too many clothes & shoes (last time we had 1 duffle bag that was JUST shoes for all of us)!! That is not happening this time! There is just not that much storage in the room and checked luggage fees will kill us. I have been a terrible over-packer in the past but I am determined to do better this time. A couple of years ago I discovered packing cubes and packing folders so I am sure I can do better this time around.

Hi Cheryl welcome aboard this is our first cruise and a top tip I found on Facebook was to take a pillow case with you and some highlighter pens and drop off at guest services and they will have the characters names put on for you, what a great keep sake for the kids.
Annie have you seen this done as I don't want Aaron to be disappointed if they wont do it.

Joanne I have read about others bringing a pillowcase & markers but we have never done that. I did have a fellow peep on our last cruise who brought a pre-cut photo mat to get autographed for an 8x10 photo along with a small set of colorful Sharpie markers. (She had found a set of them on a key-ring type thing & had taped the ring onto the back of the mat to keep everything together.) Most of us were doing back-to-backs but she was only doing the 4 night cruise & she ran out of time to get it dropped off at Guest Services so she asked me to do it for her on the 3 nighter & then I mailed it to her. It was cute. They are used to this at Guest Services & they had a little form to fill out. There were a few choices of WHO to get the signatures from - they were in groups & the girl just checked off the characters I asked for. I can't remember exactly what the choices were but I just got her the basics - Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald but I think you could also have had just the princesses or ALL the characters. They can customize it for you. I think the photo mat is a great idea as it's something you can put a picture in and frame it and put out on display in your home. You just need to be careful to pack it in a big manilla envelope or something so it doesn't get the corners bent up.

 

[mikki.young]

Annie, I have just seen pictures of the secret balcony cabin - it is wonderful! Thank you so much for spotting that and sharing it. I am really looking forward to it - and the deck 6 one looks better than deck 7 so I am glad I decided to stay on your deck

I am going to book the taxis for the various pick ups shortly. Let me know if you want to share the cruise pick up. If I don't hear from you I'll book but ask if we can increase numbers later if need be.

 

[luke]

Of course we would like to practice our english. It would be nice travel with disney, have fun and learn some english. Perfect hollidays for us.

I would try to write and chat, to practice.

Luke we are from Zaragoza, have you been there? and where are you from?

Always good to practise!

I'm from Liverpool in England, but I used to live in Málaga and am a Spanish teacher here in England.
I've never been to Zaragoza (soy Andaluz en mi corazón jaja) but a friend of mine lived there when I was in Málaga and loved it