August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[jd99]

Lee Ann is right. Time to pick up the chatter and also commit to the meet! Come one. Come all. It's funny because on our Dream cruise we didn't go to the meet because I hadn't really been posting to the cruisemeet thread at all -- and my kids really missed it. They have been hit and miss with meeting a "cruise friend" at the meet - sometimes it has worked to the point that they are still in touch - sometimes kids they were actually chatting with on a kids board or through email turned out to not "work" as cruise buddies. However, I have found that giving them that chance to meet someone on day one is better for their state of mind in terms of wanting to go to the club/lab/edge and see who is there the first couple of days - and it's not that I want to get rid of them - I'd like to spend every day and night with them - but it enhances their cruising experience and ours if we separate for periods of time to do our own things. We didn't do that on the Dream and I think that was really what was missing from our personal experience.

And we have amazingly met at least 10-15 families/couples that we keep in touch with through Facebook and with whom we have cruised again - and even met in person if they live close enough - for dinner!


So lecture over. Come to the meet!!!!!!

 

[west&east]

I'm so excited! We got confirmation that we got into the Colosseum Underground Tour!
If you don't know about it here is the description:

The underground - ipogei, hypogeum - areas are what made possible the long and spectacular days of the Colosseum in all their gore and glory - the subterranean backstage, as it were, where slaves worked, animals (read lions, tigers, hyenas and bears) were stored and gladiators rested, ate and offered up their prayers. They were completely filled in during the 5th century AD and as a result show a remarkable state of preservation.

The upper tier, the terzo anello sits at 33 metres high and offers unprecedented views for the visitor, both of the immense interior of the Colosseum as well as out across Rome, ancient and modern. Underground and above-ground, not for decades has it been possible for the visitor to achieve such a full sense of the scale and spectacular that is the Roman Colosseum.

We probably will have less or no time in the Vatican because we are doing this but I know our group will enjoy this immensely.

Dropped DD12 at camp yesterday. She's there until 7/31. Never been away from her nearly this long. I know she will have a blast and then the real countdown will begin when she gets back. We actually had her 90% packed for camp by Sunday which is an amazing feat for my family. I told her that we will pack for the cruise Aug 1 and then all just wear the same two shorts and t-shirts for the next 10 days while waiting to leave!

 

[kerrykerr]

Wow Karen - that tour sounds awesome! You'll enjoy it, I'm sure. We're doing the Vatican, St. Peter's, and Col. offered as an excursion because it's our first time in Europe and want to see a lot of places.

LeeAnn - Yes, we are still in for the meet in the Promenade Lounge. DH and DD are both looking forward to meeting everyone. Hopefully our daughter will make some friends to play with in the kids' club.

I can't believe how quickly the trip is approaching! I"m trying to find time to read books about Rome so that I can remind myself of all the history I'm going to be walking around. With this heat wave I'm actually getting some time to sit and read because it's too hot to do anything else! They're saying tomorrow will be a record setting day for heat advisories in Toronto. Yikes!

 

[Anal Annie]

Hello all... I'm new to the DIS boards and found this page while searching for info on our Mediterranean Disney Cruise (8/13)!!

I hope this is the correct forum for this question. My wife and I would like to find some other folks who want to split the cost of some of the private tours at the ports of call. Anyone out there looking to fill some space?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Hi Joe - Welcome to the DISboards and the Marauding Mates!! Not sure who all is left who is still looking to make plans in any of the ports. Rexalite is new here & I think posted a similar post a few pages back...they may still be in the market to share! Not sure if Mikki is still looking for someone to split with to go to Florence...she's been quite busy planning for another trip too so may not have time to be on here much. A lot of people on our thread have opted to stick with DCL excursions I think. Not everybody has said what their plans are. Keeping them a big secret I guess!!

Personally, we're set for Rome & Naples & are planning to "wing it" on our own in the other ports I think. Going to attempt public transportation (trains & ferries) in Villefranche & La Spezia.

I really haven't spent much time planning for Majorca...hoping it's not too difficult to find a taxi to a beach. For lack of information & research at this point probably just going to Palma Nova beach. (The same one DCL is going to.)

So how many in your group? Where are ya coming from? Is this your first DCL cruise? We are planning a DIS meet on embarkation day - sort of a quick meet & greet with other DIS'ers. Promenade Lounge between 2:30 & 3:00. Gives most everyone time to board, have lunch, drop their stuff in their cabins...the Safety Drill (Lifeboat Drill) is at 4:00 so the meet won't last all that long. Anyone is welcome to come thru & say hi if you're interested.... (I am trying to get an idea of who all to expect.)

 

[Anal Annie]

Lee Ann is right. Time to pick up the chatter and also commit to the meet! Come one. Come all. It's funny because on our Dream cruise we didn't go to the meet because I hadn't really been posting to the cruisemeet thread at all -- and my kids really missed it. They have been hit and miss with meeting a "cruise friend" at the meet - sometimes it has worked to the point that they are still in touch - sometimes kids they were actually chatting with on a kids board or through email turned out to not "work" as cruise buddies. However, I have found that giving them that chance to meet someone on day one is better for their state of mind in terms of wanting to go to the club/lab/edge and see who is there the first couple of days - and it's not that I want to get rid of them - I'd like to spend every day and night with them - but it enhances their cruising experience and ours if we separate for periods of time to do our own things. We didn't do that on the Dream and I think that was really what was missing from our personal experience.

And we have amazingly met at least 10-15 families/couples that we keep in touch with through Facebook and with whom we have cruised again - and even met in person if they live close enough - for dinner!


So lecture over. Come to the meet!!!!!!

We didn't know about the DIS on our first cruise so we were clueless to what was happening but then last time we (I) chatted online with our group for 15 months. They were a very outgoing bunch who had also met thru the DISboards and had cruised together before. We met up with a few pre-cruise at WDW (for some quality time drinking our way around the world at Epcot) and then we hung out with them on a couple excursions (parasailing) and on the beach at CC some. Also did some late night Karaoke. There was absolutely no obligation to hang out ALL THE TIME, but it was fun to see familiar faces around the ship & to hook up here & there. We're still in touch (via Facebook & phone) with several of them and they've turned out to be some great peeps!! Several live in CA and we're hoping to meet up with some of them again next summer either at DL in CA or at Aulani.

I am worried at this point if our DS will find many tweens or teenagers to hang out with. There seems to be slim pickin's on that age group here.

I'm so excited! We got confirmation that we got into the Colosseum Underground Tour!
If you don't know about it here is the description:

The underground - ipogei, hypogeum - areas are what made possible the long and spectacular days of the Colosseum in all their gore and glory - the subterranean backstage, as it were, where slaves worked, animals (read lions, tigers, hyenas and bears) were stored and gladiators rested, ate and offered up their prayers. They were completely filled in during the 5th century AD and as a result show a remarkable state of preservation.

The upper tier, the terzo anello sits at 33 metres high and offers unprecedented views for the visitor, both of the immense interior of the Colosseum as well as out across Rome, ancient and modern. Underground and above-ground, not for decades has it been possible for the visitor to achieve such a full sense of the scale and spectacular that is the Roman Colosseum.

We probably will have less or no time in the Vatican because we are doing this but I know our group will enjoy this immensely.

Dropped DD12 at camp yesterday. She's there until 7/31. Never been away from her nearly this long. I know she will have a blast and then the real countdown will begin when she gets back. We actually had her 90% packed for camp by Sunday which is an amazing feat for my family. I told her that we will pack for the cruise Aug 1 and then all just wear the same two shorts and t-shirts for the next 10 days while waiting to leave!

WOW - this sounds neat - I had no idea this was available!! Did you arrange this tour thru Romeinlimo?! To be honest I would probably enjoy that more than the Vatican. I want to hear all about it after you go!! Guess we have to save something for next time, right?! (If we throw a coin in Trevi Fountain we'll return to Rome, right?!)

We will do the same thing for packing - I will start moving clothes to the spare room next week to get them out of circulation & then we'll end up wearing the same thing every day for a week!

Wow Karen - that tour sounds awesome! You'll enjoy it, I'm sure. We're doing the Vatican, St. Peter's, and Col. offered as an excursion because it's our first time in Europe and want to see a lot of places.

LeeAnn - Yes, we are still in for the meet in the Promenade Lounge. DH and DD are both looking forward to meeting everyone. Hopefully our daughter will make some friends to play with in the kids' club.

I can't believe how quickly the trip is approaching! I"m trying to find time to read books about Rome so that I can remind myself of all the history I'm going to be walking around. With this heat wave I'm actually getting some time to sit and read because it's too hot to do anything else! They're saying tomorrow will be a record setting day for heat advisories in Toronto. Yikes!

Glad to hear you are still "in" for the DIS meet!! I have a countdown going on our dry erase board on the garage door & it's SCARING ME it's getting so close!!

Another busy day here. We had swim practice this morning 7:30-9:00 then I brought DS home & I ran back over to meet with the other 2 girls who are both working on the swim CD for the banquet next week - that was 9:30-12:20. Discovered we still have a short list of kids that we haven't identified yet. I am sure we HAVE some pics of them but we don't KNOW them 'cuz they don't swim meets or practice in the evenings or whatever. They're just not around enough to KNOW. We are going to be sure to take pics of them tonight (assuming they're swimming). This is our last 'B' meet & it's a big one - 3 teams...around 375 kids so most events will have 4-5 heats. And it's FREAKING HOT out there folks!! Heat index this afternoon predicted between 100-105 degrees!! Set-up is at 4:00 & warm-up is at 4:30. Meet will start at 5:30 and probably go until 9:00 or 9:30 so I'm "out" (off the DIS) until tomorrow!! CYA!!!

 

[chrssher]

Wow, sounds like everyone is having the same crappy work life that I am right now! At least we know we will all have earned the vacation, right?

Karen - your office water situation sounds awful! Hope it is all resolved quickly though!

We will try to make the meet; sounds like fun! I appreciate the info on Rome; will take a look and see if that might meet our needs.

Re: the credit cards and chips - our cards are US standard, no eurochips and we haven't had a problem on any travels in Europe. Just keep in mind that Europeans use cash much more often than credit cards. Touristy areas often take cards at shops, famous sites, etc - cash is a safer bet for restaurants though. There are a lot of street vendors in tourist areas as well and you'll want cash for that.

Hope this helps; looking forward to BCN!

 

[west&east]

Well the fans and dehumidifiers are out of my office. I guess that means somebody thinks its dry. They put the baseboards back up which I think means they don't intend to pull up the carpet. That might turn into a fight. Ugh.

Annie- my friend found out out about the Colosseum dungeon tour when she was in Rome last winter. They saw folks going down into places they were not allowed to go. It is a relatively new thing and they have been only selling tickets about two months ahead. We checked with Jany at romeinlimo about adjusting the tour for this and she said no problem. We'll probably see the Basillica but not the rest of the Vatican which I know will be fine for our group. The boys will especially love it. The dungeon tour is 27.50 euros each and includes the Palatine area and Forum on your own. (Regular admission is 18 euros- at least on the tickitaly.com website which probably is higher than you'd pay directly- so its not that much more to see the dungeons, etc.)

 

[SailingSeas]

so swamped... I wanted to let you know that we won't be boarding until close to the drill time so I think we're going to miss the boat (ha ha) on the arrival meeting. Are any others planned at this time?

 

[Kels Sem]

I'm starting to think about get clothes organised for the trip. To be honest I don't think it's going to be too difficult to keep the holiday clothes clean before we go. The weather here has been so rubbish it's hasn't been anywhere near warm enough to wear any of them I'm sitting here in jeans and a sweatshirt! I'm freezing, I don't think I have recovered from being so cold in work today. They had the air-con full blast, why I do not know as it was about 60 degrees outside

 

[Anal Annie]

Wow, sounds like everyone is having the same crappy work life that I am right now! At least we know we will all have earned the vacation, right?

Karen - your office water situation sounds awful! Hope it is all resolved quickly though!

We will try to make the meet; sounds like fun! I appreciate the info on Rome; will take a look and see if that might meet our needs.

Re: the credit cards and chips - our cards are US standard, no eurochips and we haven't had a problem on any travels in Europe. Just keep in mind that Europeans use cash much more often than credit cards. Touristy areas often take cards at shops, famous sites, etc - cash is a safer bet for restaurants though. There are a lot of street vendors in tourist areas as well and you'll want cash for that.

Hope this helps; looking forward to BCN!

Glad to hear you can make the meet!! The more the merrier!!

Well the fans and dehumidifiers are out of my office. I guess that means somebody thinks its dry. They put the baseboards back up which I think means they don't intend to pull up the carpet. That might turn into a fight. Ugh.

Annie- my friend found out out about the Colosseum dungeon tour when she was in Rome last winter. They saw folks going down into places they were not allowed to go. It is a relatively new thing and they have been only selling tickets about two months ahead. We checked with Jany at romeinlimo about adjusting the tour for this and she said no problem. We'll probably see the Basillica but not the rest of the Vatican which I know will be fine for our group. The boys will especially love it. The dungeon tour is 27.50 euros each and includes the Palatine area and Forum on your own. (Regular admission is 18 euros- at least on the tickitaly.com website which probably is higher than you'd pay directly- so its not that much more to see the dungeons, etc.)

Glad work is back to normal... The dungeon tour sounds awesome!! I wish it had been publicized more! Have you heard from DD yet? Is she allowed to call home? I'll bet she's having a blast!

so swamped... I wanted to let you know that we won't be boarding until close to the drill time so I think we're going to miss the boat (ha ha) on the arrival meeting. Are any others planned at this time?

Oh poooo! Didn't realize we had late peeps coming! We had not talked about any other planned meets (yet). Maybe if you get onboard early enough you could swing straight thru the Promenade Lounge to see if any of us are still lurking around. I could probably be persuaded to hang around & make sure the bartender doesn't get bored!! Or maybe we could hook up again at the sailway party?!

I'm starting to think about get clothes organised for the trip. To be honest I don't think it's going to be too difficult to keep the holiday clothes clean before we go. The weather here has been so rubbish it's hasn't been anywhere near warm enough to wear any of them I'm sitting here in jeans and a sweatshirt! I'm freezing, I don't think I have recovered from being so cold in work today. They had the air-con full blast, why I do not know as it was about 60 degrees outside

60's!! Holy moly!! It's JULY!! That sucks!! I hope your cold spell passes quickly! But so from one extreme to the other! We're sitting here with 100+ temps & heat indexes around 110-115!! It's BOILING out there. I got overheated at the swim meet last night...thought I was gonna pass out. Got so dizzy I had to sit for awhile. There was no shade so I had DH bring one of our beach umbrellas! I drank 4 bottles of water & a Gatorade before I felt half human again. SUCH a headache...I couldn't wait to come home & take a cold shower to cool off. And it's supposed to be worse Fri & Sat. I am DREADING the Divisional meet on Saturday. It is a dangerous heat. None of the kids swam well last night. Between the heat & long waits inbetween events it took a toll on everyone.

 

[DoeWDW]

I have to say I'm envious of anyone with 60 degree weather - I'm in the same heatwave as Annie. But I have to ask - 60 degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius???

We are flying American Airlines over to Barcelona - I've already chosen our seats. However we are flying British Airways home and they don't assign seats until day of departure! This was a surprise to me. Are we Americans just spoiled because all the American airlines let us pick our seats on the plane well in advance? Do other airlines around the world NOT do this?

Hopefully they will seat DH and I together. I will try not to worry about it because there's nothing I can do about it. I shall keep repeating the Serenity Prayer.

SailingSeas, we will just HAVE to have a meetup at another time in addition to the Promenade Lounge. If we can look at the Navigators from the 7 night Med cruises - isn't the first 7 night Med on July 30th? - maybe we can pick out some fun activity to meet up and do together.

 

[Anal Annie]

I have to say I'm envious of anyone with 60 degree weather - I'm in the same heatwave as Annie. But I have to ask - 60 degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius???

We are flying American Airlines over to Barcelona - I've already chosen our seats. However we are flying British Airways home and they don't assign seats until day of departure! This was a surprise to me. Are we Americans just spoiled because all the American airlines let us pick our seats on the plane well in advance? Do other airlines around the world NOT do this?

Hopefully they will seat DH and I together. I will try not to worry about it because there's nothing I can do about it. I shall keep repeating the Serenity Prayer.

We're flying all of our flights on Air France (on that GIGANTIC Airbus A380 super jumbo jet on the transatlantic flights) and they let us pick our seats on our TA flights but not on our flights between Paris & Barcelona. Neither flight. I called them & they said it would be done at the gate. So I'm with you. Me no likey that one! I like having my seats assigned.


SailingSeas, we will just HAVE to have a meetup at another time in addition to the Promenade Lounge. If we can look at the Navigators from the 7 night Med cruises - isn't the first 7 night Med on July 30th? - maybe we can pick out some fun activity to meet up and do together.

Maybe like at a Martini Tasting?!

 

[jd99]

Maybe like at a Martini Tasting?!

I'll be there unless it's at the same time as the wine tasting!

 

[jd99]

Just had to share for everyone suffering through a heat wave like us. I hate hate hate winter so I never complain about summer. Last year we built a pool which was the best thing we could have ever done. We've had two amazing summers with it now. Kids' friends all want to hang out at our house - which is great as they get into those pre-teen and teenage years. So tonight when it was still 89 degrees at 9 p.m., I headed out here:

[/IMG]

 

[mikki.young]

This no seat booking on BA is relatively new and another money maker for them. You can pre book seats but it is £20 per person per flight. Thankfully when I go with dh we can pre book at no charge as it is one of the things they do for people with disabilities. Virgin allow you to pre-book on Premium economy but not economy I think. Some of the cheap planes you pay to pre-book and then discover that unless you want to be at the back of the plane you also pay to pre book a meal. That's the sort of plane we are going to Barcelona on! However as we are flying at meal times I decided to go for it.

Been printing out the various documentation for the two trips. And another day trip that we decided we just had to slip in - going to London to see the state rooms at Buckingham Palace and the wedding dress! Should be fun.

 

[ukwizard]

Virgin allow you to pre-book on Premium economy but not economy I think.

Virgin will let you prebook in any class, you can do it through the website. Some of our family are travelling out with them to Orlando in October and it was quite easy to do.

Most european schedule airlines seem to be the same (i.e. free to select) as long as they are not a 'budget' airline, with the exception of BA who's seat selection charges are very high. We paid last year as my wife hates flying and wanted to ensure we were together. The first connection flight was cancelled due to snow, so they put us on the later flight but of course the seat selections went out of the window. We never managed to get a refund on the charges, all they did say is that as Id mentioned my wife was a very nervous flyer when I had tried to select seats they would have let us pick the seats for free, but all we could do after the event was to write in, so we just avoid BA where possible now.

 

[Anal Annie]

Just had to share for everyone suffering through a heat wave like us. I hate hate hate winter so I never complain about summer. Last year we built a pool which was the best thing we could have ever done. We've had two amazing summers with it now. Kids' friends all want to hang out at our house - which is great as they get into those pre-teen and teenage years. So tonight when it was still 89 degrees at 9 p.m., I headed out here:

[/IMG]

Saaahweeet!! Our team pool is the warmest anyone can remember it ever being. And the water got cloudy over the past week but the guards are still checking the water once / hour. They said it's just been too hot. It's balanced - apparently nothing they can do to treat it to clear it up. It's not good for the meets tho as it's sooo warm. Our Team Rep has a pool in her backyard too (they're hosting our Divisional picnic after the meet on Saturday) and she said the water temp. yesterday was 90 degrees!! So it's not EVEN refreshing!! Supposed to be over 100 today with a heat index between 115 - 120. YUCK!!!

I wonder how the weather has been in the Med?? Has anybody said what kind of temps we should expect for Barcelona & Italy?!

 

[Cumbley]

Hi All
Sorry Ive been missing in action! Things have been so hectic here, cant believe how close this cruise is now and I have done next to nothing in terms of planning! I think we've pretty much decided that we're not doing any disney excursions, we're just going to "wing it"! on our own - must do some checking about all that though!

Work has been manic although now we are coming to the end of term I'm hoping that slows down! We've had to put mom into a care home and I need to sort her house and ours as we've decided to sell ours and buy hers!!

I'm stressing about chicken pox at the moment! My DDs havent had it before and neither have I! There's lots of cases of it about at school at the moment and Im worried about us getting it and having to cancel

Im hoping to spend a bit more time on here over the next couple of weeks, and get my planning sorted! I'll certainly be ready for a few drinks at our dis meet!!


Cheryl

 

[jd99]

Saaahweeet!! Our team pool is the warmest anyone can remember it ever being. And the water got cloudy over the past week but the guards are still checking the water once / hour. They said it's just been too hot. It's balanced - apparently nothing they can do to treat it to clear it up. It's not good for the meets tho as it's sooo warm. Our Team Rep has a pool in her backyard too (they're hosting our Divisional picnic after the meet on Saturday) and she said the water temp. yesterday was 90 degrees!! So it's not EVEN refreshing!! Supposed to be over 100 today with a heat index between 115 - 120. YUCK!!!

I wonder how the weather has been in the Med?? Has anybody said what kind of temps we should expect for Barcelona & Italy?!

Our pool's water has been hovering between about 84 and 90 for the last few weeks - depending on how cool it gets at night. The good news is we don't have to use the heater at all! And so long as it stays below 86 or so It is still refreshing when it is 110 heat index!

We have been checking the weather and it sure seems like they are seeing the same kind of heat we have here in the States. It wasn't really bad last year - even in Tunisia - and the only time we really felt the heat was waiting in line at the Vatican. Sorrento was pleasant, Florence was rainy and cold! It looks like Barcelona is San Diego weather - upper 70s and sunny all the time - it was a bit hotter than that last summer. Rome, Naples and Florence have all been in the 90s. We of course are starting our trip in Greece and Athens has been near 100 almost every day for weeks. At least it won't be a shock to us since it's been so hot here!

 

[Kels Sem]

Maybe like at a Martini Tasting?!

I'm definitely up for martini tasting. I also want to do the wine tasting.

Doreen -It's 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather is to improve a bit over the weekend but it still won't be very warm. My goodness the heat you are having is unbelievable. We hardly ever get very hot weather here.