August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[Kels Sem]

Cool! We want to arrive several days before just to get over jet lag. We are also looking for a hotel that can accommodate 4 of us.

I'm finding it extremely difficult finding hotels that sleep 4 in a room. I think it will have to be the Novotel City. Not quite the location I would have liked but it's reasonably priced and quite a few people from the DIBB stayed there in the summer and recommend it

 

[Anal Annie]

Hey ya'll - I'm back from the beach! It was GORGEOUS weather and the beach was packed! You'd have thought it was July, not October!! Too cold to really be in the water but it was nice just to sit in the sun all afternoon. Jd99 - on Saturday we found a parking space like 2 away from the boardwalk right on the main street where the totem pole is there in Bethany...hung out most of the day with a cooler jug full of sangria and some cheese & crackers. Then there was a wedding happening on the beach at 5:00 so we watched that - it was cute and then we went up to Mango's for dinner (above Boardwalk Fries)! YUMMMMY!! Today we hit the outlets up in Rehobeth for some shopping on the way home - no sales tax in Delaware doncha know!! Found a couple of REALLY good deals but tried not to go overboard.

Just got home a short time ago. Trying to get DS's rear in gear. DH was going to take him to the Redskins game today but then DH discovered a big book report that DS needed to do so he stayed home alone all day to do that. So DH went to his game & left DS home alone (for 9 hours). This was the first time he's been left alone for more than like 3-4 hours. I think he watched TV in the basement all day. I am proof reading the book report but DS is being very difficult to talk to. TEENAGERS!! I really think it's something that DS could have (should have) done on Saturday when DH first found out about it. I tried to tell him that DS would be sneaky & not divulge ALL of his homework on Friday. He is SUPPOSED to come in on Fridays after school & get into his work like any other day - but instead he "forgets" about some things - it never fails that Sunday evening something else turns up that he "forgot" about.

Kelly - congrats on your airfare! DH & I need to talk some more about our exact plans / days. I will have to check how ours is looking now. Last week it was still outrageous but I noticed an email from Kayak in my inbox that said one of my alerts was down by $800!! Must go look to see what it was!!

 

[jd99]

But as I was born and raised on Kauai, I beg to differ- KAUAI No Ka Oi!

I knew you would say that and I really don't disagree. I only think that it's because we were in Maui only on our honeymoon that we have a special place in our hearts for that island. Kauai is absolutely the most beautiful and surreal place we've been in the islands. It's like walking (or driving) in a postcard or movie everytime you step outdoors.

 

[west&east]

Wanted to share a bit of Magic with the group...

We are traveling with our friends who are living in Istanbul, Turkey. We last saw them August 2009 when we took our family to visit them in Istanbul. While in Istanbul, I bought some beautiful silver earrings at the Grand Bazaar. In January, I wore them to wine club and an earring went missing. I was convinced that I lost it at my friend's home but it never turned up.

Friday morning we booked the cruise and I spoke with my friend in Istanbul and confirmed her booking. A couple of hours later, we got a new bed delivered and moved some furniture around. Friday evening, I sat at my desk and found two items placed there by DH: A Happy Anniversary button from WDW from our last trip and the missing earring! He found them both while moving stuff around. I'm not one to find a lot of symbolism in things, but it did seem to be a sign of good things to come with Disney and our friends!

 

[west&east]

I had a busy weeekend researching options for using US Air Dividend Miles to BCN. I made an amazing discovery- if you fly on Star Alliance partner airlines, roundtrip to Europe is only 60,000 miles. It's 125,000 miles if you fly on US Air itself. Woohoo! So we booked 4 tickets to BCN on Lufthansa. Charlotte to Munich, Munich to BCN and back same way. 240K miles plus about $500 in fees total for the 4 of us. We will arrive in BCN Thursday midday and we are leaving the Sunday after the cruise at 6am. That will hurt I'm sure...
Now to figure out hotels. We have loads of Hilton points but I'm not thrilled with the choices and locations of the Hiltons in BCN.

 

[luke]

Still looking round for hotels....

 

[Anal Annie]

Now I know Paula would thank you for the typo, but she's actually going to be 29

Yeah, I would like mine to be a 4 before my zero rather than a 5!!
All fixed.

 

[Anal Annie]

I had a busy weeekend researching options for using US Air Dividend Miles to BCN. I made an amazing discovery- if you fly on Star Alliance partner airlines, roundtrip to Europe is only 60,000 miles. It's 125,000 miles if you fly on US Air itself. Woohoo! So we booked 4 tickets to BCN on Lufthansa. Charlotte to Munich, Munich to BCN and back same way. 240K miles plus about $500 in fees total for the 4 of us. We will arrive in BCN Thursday midday and we are leaving the Sunday after the cruise at 6am. That will hurt I'm sure...
Now to figure out hotels. We have loads of Hilton points but I'm not thrilled with the choices and locations of the Hiltons in BCN.

That is GREAT!! Congratulations!! I am still watching our fares. They are about $100-150 pp higher than what I WANT them to be right now. I NEEEED them to be no more than $1,150 pp so I can cover 2 of us with miles. I also still need to talk to the high school that DS will be starting next year before I book anything. They have an orientation day for Freshmen the week before school starts & I need to make sure we're not coming back like the day of that or something. They do a run-thru with the buses & spend about 1/2 day at school running thru their schedules. It's a BIG school & I've heard if they miss it they're basically screwed. I just want to make sure if we stay in Barcelona until Tuesday that the orientation isn't on Wednesday. This summer it was on Thursday but I don't know if it's ALWAYS on Thursday. The bus comes at 6:40 am so I don't want it to be the day we get back. KWIM?! If there's a chance that it could be on Wednesday then I'll book us to come home on Monday instead OR I'll look into going to Paris on Saturday vs Sunday and then go to Barcelona on Thursday rather than on Friday (I thought flights might be cheaper to wait & fly on Sunday but I don't know that for sure.) So basically I'm still a mess!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Wanted to share a bit of Magic with the group...

We are traveling with our friends who are living in Istanbul, Turkey. We last saw them August 2009 when we took our family to visit them in Istanbul. While in Istanbul, I bought some beautiful silver earrings at the Grand Bazaar. In January, I wore them to wine club and an earring went missing. I was convinced that I lost it at my friend's home but it never turned up.

Friday morning we booked the cruise and I spoke with my friend in Istanbul and confirmed her booking. A couple of hours later, we got a new bed delivered and moved some furniture around. Friday evening, I sat at my desk and found two items placed there by DH: A Happy Anniversary button from WDW from our last trip and the missing earring! He found them both while moving stuff around. I'm not one to find a lot of symbolism in things, but it did seem to be a sign of good things to come with Disney and our friends!

Cool. That's definitely a sign!! Tell your friends to come chat on here with us too!! We want to include everyone!!

 

[west&east]

That is GREAT!! Congratulations!! I am still watching our fares. They are about $100-150 pp higher than what I WANT them to be right now. I NEEEED them to be no more than $1,150 pp so I can cover 2 of us with miles. I also still need to talk to the high school that DS will be starting next year before I book anything. They have an orientation day for Freshmen the week before school starts & I need to make sure we're not coming back like the day of that or something. They do a run-thru with the buses & spend about 1/2 day at school running thru their schedules. It's a BIG school & I've heard if they miss it they're basically screwed. I just want to make sure if we stay in Barcelona until Tuesday that the orientation isn't on Wednesday. This summer it was on Thursday but I don't know if it's ALWAYS on Thursday. The bus comes at 6:40 am so I don't want it to be the day we get back. KWIM?! If there's a chance that it could be on Wednesday then I'll book us to come home on Monday instead OR I'll look into going to Paris on Saturday vs Sunday and then go to Barcelona on Thursday rather than on Friday (I thought flights might be cheaper to wait & fly on Sunday but I don't know that for sure.) So basically I'm still a mess!!

Doesn't school and work just get in the way of more important things like cruises and vacations? I could never stomach home schooling, but I'm tempted sometimes just so I could have more flexibility in travel. Wouldn't help much anyway because DH can't take too much time off work. We are on the 7 day cruise because with a 10 day cruise you really need about 2 weeks off work with travel, etc. I was amazed when DH said he'd be ok with leaving Wednesday afternoon. It's cool that the high school does the run through with buses, etc. DD started middle school this year and while we had an open house to sort of walk through the schedule, the bus was not part of it. She never rode the bus before but it has all gone smoothly.

 

[Kels Sem]

Still looking round for hotels....

me too! I just want to get it sorted. I would love to stay at the Grand Marina Hotel at the Port but a bit pricey as I would need to pay for 2 rooms. I can dream

 

[luke]

me too! I just want to get it sorted. I would love to stay at the Grand Marina Hotel at the Port but a bit pricey as I would need to pay for 2 rooms. I can dream

Hadn't seen that one, I like the look of it tho, not a million miles off our price range for at least one of our nights

 

[Kels Sem]

Hadn't seen that one, I like the look of it tho, not a million miles off our price range for at least one of our nights

If it were just me and DH I would definitely book this hotel for the night before the cruise. The only thing that's putting me off is having to pay for 2 rooms as they only have rooms that will sleep 3. The joys of having kids!
I might mention it to DH to see what he says.

 

[Kels Sem]

I spoke to my DH and he said that I could book the Grand Marina Hotel for the night before the cruise. He really is the best. However the sensible part of me is thinking what else I can spend the extra money on. decisions decisions.... Can anyone help me decide??

Kelly

 

[Anal Annie]

I spoke to my DH and he said that I could book the Grand Marina Hotel for the night before the cruise. He really is the best. However the sensible part of me is thinking what else I can spend the extra money on. decisions decisions.... Can anyone help me decide??

Kelly

ME!!! ME!!! Do you want shoes, luggage, clothes, excursions, Palo? spa???

The Grand Marina definitely looks NICE but personally we won't book anyplace that requires 2 rooms. Just not gonna go there. I have found that some websites like Expedia don't offer the same room types / availability that I find directly on a particular hotel site. Most of these booking / search sites say there's no availability for 3 per room even though I can find it ON the hotels site. Sometimes the best rates are for a non-refundable prepaid rate - so I won't book any hotels until we have our flights nailed down.

 

[Kels Sem]

ME!!! ME!!! Do you want shoes, luggage, clothes, excursions, Palo? spa???

The Grand Marina definitely looks NICE but personally we won't book anyplace that requires 2 rooms. Just not gonna go there. I have found that some websites like Expedia don't offer the same room types / availability that I find directly on a particular hotel site. Most of these booking / search sites say there's no availability for 3 per room even though I can find it ON the hotels site. Sometimes the best rates are for a non-refundable prepaid rate - so I won't book any hotels until we have our flights nailed down.

To be honest I do agree with you. I don't think its worth having to book 2 rooms at the price they are charging! If I could have walked to the terminal I would have really considered it but you still need to take a cab to the Disney cruise terminal. Also if it was just DH & myself it would be a no brainer for me.... Oh well it was a nice thought. Back to the Novotel for me I think. I should maybe just book it and then it would stop me looking at other options unless anyone can convince me otherwise!..

 

[MRAven]

Say Annie, 10 months from today you will be in Monte Carlo, France

 

[Anal Annie]

Say Annie, 10 months from today you will be in Monte Carlo, France

I'm glad you are keeping track 'cuz I'm not watching THAT close!! I'm just staring at airfares hoping for a major drop one of these days! Actually, I've been thinking about other stuff a little too. Like we have a ski trip in January & I've been sorta looking at getting new ski pants / coat. My ski pants were a little tight last year - I had to leave them unsnapped! But I won't buy anything if I can't find a steal of a deal!!

 

[west&east]

Got a packet from my TA, SWV, today with the DCL 2011 cruise book, my confirmation, etc. Great piece of mail to get today, my birthday!
Makes me really want to book another Disney cruise before next August, like a trip on the Dream maybe? My income basically goes towards fun stuff so we'll see what the next few months brings!

 

[Anal Annie]

Got a packet from my TA, SWV, today with the DCL 2011 cruise book, my confirmation, etc. Great piece of mail to get today, my birthday!
Makes me really want to book another Disney cruise before next August, like a trip on the Dream maybe? My income basically goes towards fun stuff so we'll see what the next few months brings!

Well my dear... Sounds like a good day indeed!! Anything Disney-fied on one's birthday is special!!