August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[jd99]

OK it is official! We are booked on the cruise! We have stateroom numbers and everything!
We are
Jeremy
Lindsey
Alyssa (12)
Regan (4)
Joshua (3)
And my parents...
Jerry
Mickey

Welcome - Officially!!!! I also have a DD12 - Elizabeth. Perhaps they can chat before the cruise and each have a friend before the sailing.

 

[CastawayJP]

Welcome - Officially!!!! I also have a DD12 - Elizabeth. Perhaps they can chat before the cruise and each have a friend before the sailing.

Thanks! So glad we are finally booked!

I think Alyssa and Elizabeth emailed back and forth before the Nana Heads cruise of 08' but never linked up on the ship...

 

[Anal Annie]

Oh how I wish that I could get our online check in done so that i can get a time slot booked. This first timers malarkey sucks. Roll on the 30th May!

Th weather here isn't great either. it's fairly cold and windy but DS seems to think its summer and has his shorts & T-shirts on while I'm in jeans and jumpers

Off to bath Keira!

The kids here all seem to rush into wearing their summer stuff when it's still cold out...I can't do it. I hate to be cold...DS is the same way - he doesn't have enough meat on his bones & he gets cold. Sorry you have to wait to book your stuff - we've all been there!!

OK it is official! We are booked on the cruise! We have stateroom numbers and everything!
We are
Jeremy
Lindsey
Alyssa (12)
Regan (4)
Joshua (3)
And my parents...
Jerry
Mickey

YAY!! JP's onboard!! FINALLY!! I am so glad that you got it all worked out - I'll go edit the first post to get everyone's names added on! I have a neighbor named Mickey...but her DH's name is Dick so not the same one! Where do your parents live? Should I add where they're from too?! Did you pick your hotels yet? Are you in for our little DIS meet on embarkation day?

(PS - dumb question...is Regan a boy or girl)?!

 

[Anal Annie]

OK - just a quick recap for our DIS meet attendees (so far)

Kelly (aka Kels Sem)
Karen (aka west&east)
Jeff (aka jd99)
Mikki (aka Mikki.Young)
Cheryl (aka Cumbley)
Joanne (aka Joanne Hollyoak)
Jon (aka MallenBeadle)
Doreen (aka DoeWDW)
Shereen (aka Goofygoof)
Me (Anal Annie)

That's almost everyone. Anyone else?? Luke? JP? Lisa? Esther? Marcus?

 

[CastawayJP]

I haven't been keeping up with the thread... When/where is the meet?

My parents are from Richmond VA. This is their first DCL...

Regan is a girl.

We have not booked a hotel yet, but we are looking at the Condado Hotel. Anyone familiar with it?

 

[Anal Annie]

I haven't been keeping up with the thread... When/where is the meet?

My parents are from Richmond VA. This is their first DCL...

Regan is a girl.

We have not booked a hotel yet, but we are looking at the Condado Hotel. Anyone familiar with it?

We were talking about having a quick meet & greet at the Promenade Lounge around 2:30-3:00 or so....that would give most all of us time to board, have lunch & drop our stuff in our rooms....Muster Drill is at 4:00 so it would be a quickie. Let the kiddos meet up...put a face to a name or two... Figured we hadn't planned any big stuff like matching T-shirts or lanyards or FE's or anything but we could at least do a toast with our own little Bon Voyage party!! Maybe we could get someone to take a group picture of our merry band.

I will fix the first post with the rest of your info.....

I had about 15 hotels in Barcelona on my short list but that was not one of them. How did you find it? How's it look on Trip Advisor? I tried to stay in the top 100 rated ones & looked primarily for "family" rooms & pools as part of my criteria...oh, and of course PRICE was a biggie for us.... Not all of these had pools but some of the ones I looked at besides the Novotel & the Jazz were the Pratik Rambla, Hotel Barcelona Catedral, Le Meridian, Hotel Constanza, Hotel EuroPark, Hotel Barcelona Universal, and the Marriott Renaissance (by the airport should we have come in on a late flight from Paris).

 

[jd99]

Thanks! So glad we are finally booked!

I think Alyssa and Elizabeth emailed back and forth before the Nana Heads cruise of 08' but never linked up on the ship...

I think you are correct. Maybe the second time is a charm!

 

[CastawayJP]

I think you are correct. Maybe the second time is a charm!

I'll have her PM you so they can reconnect!

 

[DoeWDW]

Totally off-topic, but LeeAnn, I am loving the new DVC logo in your sig! Has it been made official yet?

Back on topic, I posted a thread on the main DCL board about staying connected while in the Med region. Lots of good info there for those in the US who don't want to be totally cut off from stateside family & friends during the sailing. My next step will be to call Verizon and see about getting something worked out, whether it's my phone or a loaner. Apparently, it will only work in port though. I guess I'll just have to turn it off when we're out at sea.

 

[CastawayJP]

We were talking about having a quick meet & greet at the Promenade Lounge around 2:30-3:00 or so....that would give most all of us time to board, have lunch & drop our stuff in our rooms....Muster Drill is at 4:00 so it would be a quickie. Let the kiddos meet up...put a face to a name or two... Figured we hadn't planned any big stuff like matching T-shirts or lanyards or FE's or anything but we could at least do a toast with our own little Bon Voyage party!! Maybe we could get someone to take a group picture of our merry band.

I will fix the first post with the rest of your info.....

I had about 15 hotels in Barcelona on my short list but that was not one of them. How did you find it? How's it look on Trip Advisor? I tried to stay in the top 100 rated ones & looked primarily for "family" rooms & pools as part of my criteria...oh, and of course PRICE was a biggie for us.... Not all of these had pools but some of the ones I looked at besides the Novotel & the Jazz were the Pratik Rambla, Hotel Barcelona Catedral, Le Meridian, Hotel Constanza, Hotel EuroPark, Hotel Barcelona Universal, and the Marriott Renaissance (by the airport should we have come in on a late flight from Paris).

It looks pretty good, especially for the price (around 100 euro) but we might be in trouble in terms of family rooms. I was primarily looking to keep the price low for Mom and Dad...

I think that we should be able to make it to the meet up!

 

[Anal Annie]

Totally off-topic, but LeeAnn, I am loving the new DVC logo in your sig! Has it been made official yet?

Back on topic, I posted a thread on the main DCL board about staying connected while in the Med region. Lots of good info there for those in the US who don't want to be totally cut off from stateside family & friends during the sailing. My next step will be to call Verizon and see about getting something worked out, whether it's my phone or a loaner. Apparently, it will only work in port though. I guess I'll just have to turn it off when we're out at sea.

We let my BIL & SIL use a few points at AKV last week & I'd asked them to pick up a new DVC car magnet for me & they had trouble finding DVC merchandise. So I think it sounds like they ARE changing the DVC logo (based on low availability of the old stuff). Here's the thread where I snagged the new logo from on the Mousellaneous Board: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2722359. I am secretly hoping maybe we could do a little add-on for Aulani while we're on the ship so I could add a 2nd resort. I doubt it will happen...but one can dream, right?!

It looks pretty good, especially for the price (around 100 euro) but we might be in trouble in terms of family rooms. I was primarily looking to keep the price low for Mom and Dad...

I think that we should be able to make it to the meet up!

I think the hotels have gone up since we booked ours (back in January). We got the Novotel for 109 euro / night incl. breakfast which was about $145 USD at the time (we did the pre-paid non-refundable rate to get the best deal). Now it's up to around $200 USD I think.

I will add you to the DIS meet list!

I need to figure out what to do about getting back to the airport - it seems like all the shuttle services are so expensive!! I am just planning to use a taxi from the airport to the Novotel and then from the Novotel to the port...then am sharing a shuttle with Mikki from the port after the cruise....but for some reason I am nervous about using a taxi to go back to the airport. Our flight is at 7:30 am so we need to be there by 5:30. I don't want to mess around at 5:00 am looking for a taxi. I just want to know we'll be there on time. KWIM? Has anybody found any good deals on shuttles to / from the airport?! Do you think some are cheaper if we would book a round trip rather than a one-way?

 

[mikki.young]

Annie, autovillars are the same if both ways. Should be 50 euros to the airport from the hotel.

I like the look of the new logo too - but don't want to add on at Aulani. Just a bit far to go for us. Have loved visiting OKW since 1992 but don't like the refurb. Hoping to get into Kidani and/or BLT for our January stay.

Weather still beautiful here. went snorkelling yesterday. Very relaxing.

 

[DoeWDW]

I got some happy news today from DCL. We were originally booked on the Sept. 3 sailing. When DCL chartered the ship and offered us the chance to change to another sailing, I was worried about the airfare I had already booked. We were assured that DCL would pay all charges associated with the change of dates for our flights.

I originally got flights for $1700 (2 people round trip Baltimore to Barcelona - a GREAT deal!). It took a while for me to save up the $ to rebook because airfare has gone up so much. I recently rebooked but it cost an extra $3300 PLUS $500 change fees. That's a lot of money!

I sent all the documentation to DCL and I just got a letter today saying they will send me a check for the full $3800 it cost to change the flights. I am SO RELIEVED!!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Annie, autovillars are the same if both ways. Should be 50 euros to the airport from the hotel.

I like the look of the new logo too - but don't want to add on at Aulani. Just a bit far to go for us. Have loved visiting OKW since 1992 but don't like the refurb. Hoping to get into Kidani and/or BLT for our January stay.

Weather still beautiful here. went snorkelling yesterday. Very relaxing.

Glad you are having a good time! We like to snorkel. How long will you be there?! I'll check the autovillars place too...

I got some happy news today from DCL. We were originally booked on the Sept. 3 sailing. When DCL chartered the ship and offered us the chance to change to another sailing, I was worried about the airfare I had already booked. We were assured that DCL would pay all charges associated with the change of dates for our flights.

I originally got flights for $1700 (2 people round trip Baltimore to Barcelona - a GREAT deal!). It took a while for me to save up the $ to rebook because airfare has gone up so much. I recently rebooked but it cost an extra $3300 PLUS $500 change fees. That's a lot of money!

I sent all the documentation to DCL and I just got a letter today saying they will send me a check for the full $3800 it cost to change the flights. I am SO RELIEVED!!!

THAT is SAWEEEEET news!!! I can imagine what a relief that must be for you!!!! We would've been totally screwed as I booked ours based on being able to cover 2 of them with credit card miles....so I don't know what DCL would've done in that case. But that sure is a huge chunk of change!! BWI is a nice airport...we prefer it to Dulles...but I found more options going out of Dulles than BWI...so Dulles it is for us this time. Parking at Dulles is going to cost us a lot more than the FastPark places at BWI tho - like a LOT more. Do you use the FastPark lots at BWI? We have found them to be very, very good...safe, well lighted lots...good service with their shuttle too - pretty prompt. AND you can get a coupon online for like about $7 / day or something like that!! (Just FYI in case you didn't know that.)

 

[jd99]

I got some happy news today from DCL. We were originally booked on the Sept. 3 sailing. When DCL chartered the ship and offered us the chance to change to another sailing, I was worried about the airfare I had already booked. We were assured that DCL would pay all charges associated with the change of dates for our flights.

I originally got flights for $1700 (2 people round trip Baltimore to Barcelona - a GREAT deal!). It took a while for me to save up the $ to rebook because airfare has gone up so much. I recently rebooked but it cost an extra $3300 PLUS $500 change fees. That's a lot of money!

I sent all the documentation to DCL and I just got a letter today saying they will send me a check for the full $3800 it cost to change the flights. I am SO RELIEVED!!!

THAT is awesome news! Love that Disney took care of it.

 

[Kels Sem]

I got some happy news today from DCL. We were originally booked on the Sept. 3 sailing. When DCL chartered the ship and offered us the chance to change to another sailing, I was worried about the airfare I had already booked. We were assured that DCL would pay all charges associated with the change of dates for our flights.

I originally got flights for $1700 (2 people round trip Baltimore to Barcelona - a GREAT deal!). It took a while for me to save up the $ to rebook because airfare has gone up so much. I recently rebooked but it cost an extra $3300 PLUS $500 change fees. That's a lot of money!

I sent all the documentation to DCL and I just got a letter today saying they will send me a check for the full $3800 it cost to change the flights. I am SO RELIEVED!!!

That's great news - it would have been alot of money to be out of pocket if they hadn't

 

[Anal Annie]

Hi all...home from day # 1 of DS's swim meet. This is going to be a LONG rest of the day boys & girls! As tired as I am right now from getting up at 4:40 I am getting worried about how we will do DLP all jet lagged & on virtually no sleep?! How do my UK peeps handle the jet lag?! On a bright note DS had some good swims. He didn't have long course times for any of the 3 swims today & he managed to get 2 of them into the 'B' times (for the 100 free & 400 free). He actually surprised me on his 400 - once I convert his best 500 short course time to a long course 400 time he dropped about 16 seconds which I thought was pretty good. Well, let me put it this way - I wasn't sure how he'd do so I was just hoping he could finish in under 6 minutes and he did!

It is a GORGEOUS day here but I am too darned tired to enjoy it. I really feel the couch calling my name... Can you hear it? It's saying ANNNNNIE come lay down....Oh ANNNNNNNIE....

 

[Kels Sem]

Oh Annie, the jetlag for us coming back from the US is a killer! It's not too bad on the way out. Last year when we came home I decided to stay up the rest of the day. I managed until I got the kids to bed at about 7pm and then I slept for 14 hours straight! Other times I would get into bed when we get home and sleep til about lunch time and then get up. Then that night even though I am tired I can't sleep til the early hours. To be honest I don't think there is a right or wrong answer but i reckon it will definitely take you 2/3 days to adjust and you will be really tired. You will just have to battle through the tiredness unless anyone else has come across some other tips that I don't know about

 

[jd99]

Hi all...home from day # 1 of DS's swim meet. This is going to be a LONG rest of the day boys & girls! As tired as I am right now from getting up at 4:40 I am getting worried about how we will do DLP all jet lagged & on virtually no sleep?! How do my UK peeps handle the jet lag?! On a bright note DS had some good swims. He didn't have long course times for any of the 3 swims today & he managed to get 2 of them into the 'B' times (for the 100 free & 400 free). He actually surprised me on his 400 - once I convert his best 500 short course time to a long course 400 time he dropped about 16 seconds which I thought was pretty good. Well, let me put it this way - I wasn't sure how he'd do so I was just hoping he could finish in under 6 minutes and he did!

It is a GORGEOUS day here but I am too darned tired to enjoy it. I really feel the couch calling my name... Can you hear it? It's saying ANNNNNIE come lay down....Oh ANNNNNNNIE....

Congrats to your DS on his swims! Great stuff. DD got her 200 breast B time last week in long course and is knocking on the door for 3 other events. However, this weekend is dance recital weekend for the girls. Getting ready to head out in an hour or so for the big event. DD7 has been dancing 5 years already and DD12 for 10 years. They both get awards for that today plus DD12 is doing a solo. Should be a fun day.

 

[CastawayJP]

I know that everyone is well ahead of us on this, but we just booked our airfare! Now we have a spot on the ship, and a way to get to Barcelona! And back to Bucharest!