August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[luke]

Hey Mikki, good to see you made it across here!!
Still not booked our Barça hotel yet, which have you gone for?

 

[mikki.young]

Hey Mikki, good to see you made it across here!!
Still not booked our Barça hotel yet, which have you gone for?

Barcelo Raval - looks quite funky!

 

[luke]

Will give it a look.
I've been spoilt by my last 3 hotels, New York Palace, Royal Pacific and Saratoga Springs, all gotten for prices that wouldn't get me much in Barcelona!! Love the look of either W or Le Meridien but they're so expensive for even the two nights that we need

 

[mikki.young]

We are looking at private transport/tour of Florence. For 2 people it works out a bit more expensive than disney but if anyone wanted to share with us they would all come in much cheaper. Anyone interested?

 

[Anal Annie]

MIkki - got your crew added to the first post - Figaro sounds like a cool cat!!

I think Jeff and his family are planning on going to Florence so perhaps he'll be interested in sharing with you....he has been MIA a lot lately so maybe he'll pop back in sometime soon. I don't think we want to spend 2 hours or whatever it is traveling in each direction to Florence. We are planning to use private tours for Rome & Naples and I guess nobody else is interested in sharing there either so I guess we'll be on our own. I gotta get those booked. I got distracted with the whole Paris hotel thing last week - probably WILL book the Odeon - the only negative things I read about it are that the rooms are teeeny tiny.

This weekend we were busy with DS's swim meet etc. (thankfully he DID swim a little better yesterday than on Saturday.) OH, and we ended up buying the Keurig coffee system. I had the replacement carafe for our old pot in my cart & then DH said let's go for the Keurig so we did! Now we are experimenting with different coffees every day. We stocked up on several to try out but after our honeymoon period with it we'll have to settle on 1 or 2 & see if we can buy the K cups cheaper somewhere (online or at Costco).

 

[CastawayJP]

Yes! I thought your screen name looked familiar!

Yeah I thought I recognized your Pluto Avatar!

 

[luke]

We are looking at private transport/tour of Florence. For 2 people it works out a bit more expensive than disney but if anyone wanted to share with us they would all come in much cheaper. Anyone interested?

Think I'm sold on doing Cinque Terre when in La Spezia, especially after learning that we wouldn't be able to see Michaelangelo's David in Florence they day we're there

 

[jd99]

We are looking at private transport/tour of Florence. For 2 people it works out a bit more expensive than disney but if anyone wanted to share with us they would all come in much cheaper. Anyone interested?

Hi there. I am here! Just not a lot to report.

We are definitely going to Florence but I think we are going to do the DCL "Florence on your own" excursion - which is basically bus transport that guarantees that you get back to the ship. Last year, the weather turned and many people came very close to missing the ship as traffic got crazy bad once the storm picked up steam. Don't want to take the chance of missing the ship.

Weather just turned bad here around 3 pm - snowing like mad. Can't even leave to get DD to swim practice. She had a meet this weekend too - and dropped time in 4 of 7 events. Pretty good considering she had been off practice 2 weeks ago due to being sick - and then this week slowly worked her way back in to practice for the first two days of practice and then had pretty good practices 2 days.

Next trip for me is NYC in March for the Big East basketball tournament! Family is joining for the weekend. Then we are heading to California for Spring Break in April and WDW in June where DD12 will be dancing at the MK and DTD with her performance group. Lots of fun stuff coming up if we can just get past this AWFUL winter weather.

 

[Anal Annie]

Hey Jeff!! We are skipping practice tonight too. It was an optional one for DS since he had the meet this weekend - but it's supposed to be sleeting around 8-9:00 and his practice would go until 9:15 so I'm staying in. Congrats to your DD!! DS dropped in 4 of 6 events. I just realllly thought he'd drop on his 200 Free and he didn't. Yesterday they were saying we'd only get a light dusting of snow now we're to get 4-8" over night!! We've been lucky this winter tho & haven't had much so far. Just hard to believe that it was in the 60's a few days ago!!


I am still searching for a hotel in Paris. I have read like 300 reviews I think!

I just sent a message to someone on Facebook that had posted on the DCL page that she was on the Aug. 13 Med cruise...I sent her a link to our meet thread so maybe we'll pick up another new peep!!

 

[Kels Sem]

Hey LeeAnn, Jeff, How's the weather with you now. Still snowing??

 

[jd99]

Hey LeeAnn, Jeff, How's the weather with you now. Still snowing??

Monday afternoon we got about 8 inches of snow (between about 4 p.m and midnight) which is a lot for us - and certainly a lot to come so fast.

It's warming up a bit now (almost 40 F -yippee) - so some melting is happening - tomorrow it's supposed to rain.

SO ready for spring. It was in the 60s for a couple of days last week and it just teased us that good weather was on its way soon.

 

[Anal Annie]

Booked the Odeon Saint Germain in Paris! Now I still need to change the transfer information with the shuttle company. I guess I put the cart before the horse on that one huh?!

NEXT I am booking our romeinlimo tours for Rome & Naples....I have spent a long time today on the romeinlimo thread on Cruise Critic looking for names of recommended drivers! They have so many! And everyone seems to like them all. I suppose we'll take our chances.

 

[LNRP]

Hello,

We just signed up to go on the Aug. 13th cruise. This is our first Disney Cruise. This site has been really helpful.

Lisa

 

[Anal Annie]

Hello,

We just signed up to go on the Aug. 13th cruise. This is our first Disney Cruise. This site has been really helpful.

Lisa

Welcome first timers from Russia!!! This is going to be such an international group!! The DIS is a wonderful website for all things Disney - I'm glad you found us!! As you can see from my post count I spend a lot of time here!

So tell us more about you and your group! How many are you, names, ages etc. and I can add you to the first post on the thread!! Have you been to the Disney parks before? Most of us here are certified Disney fantatics.

 

[Anal Annie]

Just called DCL again today to ask about Mallorca...the CM said it should be loaded any day now...she said she has the list - there will be about 17 things offered there...I asked if there were any beach options & she said there is one 1/2 day one to someplace called Moneello Beach. Adult price was $79. It was 4 - 4.5 hours and didn't include lunch, only a voucher for ice cream. Where is Justine when we need her? Kelly - do you think you could have her fill us in on Mallorca?! She just went there last year, right?! Do you still "see" her on your Dibb board??

 

[luke]

Ok really looking forward to Mallorca, never been there (only to Ibiza) so a bit of exploring of Palma and maybe some time on a beach. Spanish ports hold the least problems for me as I love to speak Spanish

 

[Kels Sem]

Just called DCL again today to ask about Mallorca...the CM said it should be loaded any day now...she said she has the list - there will be about 17 things offered there...I asked if there were any beach options & she said there is one 1/2 day one to someplace called Moneello Beach. Adult price was $79. It was 4 - 4.5 hours and didn't include lunch, only a voucher for ice cream. Where is Justine when we need her? Kelly - do you think you could have her fill us in on Mallorca?! She just went there last year, right?! Do you still "see" her on your Dibb board??

My cousin lives in Palma so if you have any specific questions just ask and I will find out from her or I can also ask my aunt as she will also have good knowledge of Palma. As far as I know there is a beach at Palma. Not sure if it's within walking distance but it is certainly a short taxi ride. If it's the beach you are most interested in I will find out the best one to go to nearest the port and distances etc. Palma will be the best port for a beach day out of all the ports and I'm certainly planning some time there.

 

[Anal Annie]

My cousin lives in Palma so if you have any specific questions just ask and I will find out from her or I can also ask my aunt as she will also have good knowledge of Palma. As far as I know there is a beach at Palma. Not sure if it's within walking distance but it is certainly a short taxi ride. If it's the beach you are most interested in I will find out the best one to go to nearest the port and distances etc. Palma will be the best port for a beach day out of all the ports and I'm certainly planning some time there.

Oh boy! Party at Kelly's cousins house! Yes, I think we should pick her brain about the best beach options near the port and the best way to get there on our own. I think $79 pp is steep for a ride to the beach! I know there are several good beaches. Just not sure how to GET there! A good family beach with some sort of facilities (bathrooms & a snack bar where we could grab a sandwich & cold drink or something). Are you planning to visit with her while we're there?? Maybe she could suggest a car service or a taxi or something.

So I heard back from the girl I found on Facebook - her name is Joan - she said she will come check us out here on the DIS...but their servers were acting up or something while ago so she got an error. I kept getting the same thing. She has a 4 yr old son. More peeps!!

So I booked romeinlimo today for 2 ports! It's all really coming together now!!

Well, must go warm up some leftovers...since we missed swim practice on Monday we're doing a marathon this week now (Wed, Thur & Fri nights then Sat. afternoon. Then we'll start next week with Sun. morning...then Monday night rinse & repeat!!! I am a slave driver aren't I?!

 

[Kels Sem]

Oh boy! Party at Kelly's cousins house! Yes, I think we should pick her brain about the best beach options near the port and the best way to get there on our own. I think $79 pp is steep for a ride to the beach! I know there are several good beaches. Just not sure how to GET there! A good family beach with some sort of facilities (bathrooms & a snack bar where we could grab a sandwich & cold drink or something). Are you planning to visit with her while we're there?? Maybe she could suggest a car service or a taxi or something.

So I heard back from the girl I found on Facebook - her name is Joan - she said she will come check us out here on the DIS...but their servers were acting up or something while ago so she got an error. I kept getting the same thing. She has a 4 yr old son. More peeps!!

So I booked romeinlimo today for 2 ports! It's all really coming together now!!

Well, must go warm up some leftovers...since we missed swim practice on Monday we're doing a marathon this week now (Wed, Thur & Fri nights then Sat. afternoon. Then we'll start next week with Sun. morning...then Monday night rinse & repeat!!! I am a slave driver aren't I?!

Okie Dokie, I will contact Suzie and ask her about the beaches. I need to contact her anyway to remind her to book the day off work when we're in Palma so that we can hang out with her. I intend to go to the beach

it's a real shame that our flights are not going to land in Barcelona closer together in time on the Friday as the price for the transfer to the Novotel is the same for 4 people as it is for 7. We don't land until 13.00

Depending on your plans do you fancy meeting up for a drink in the hotel bar sometime on the Friday night? I just thought it would be nice to meet before travelling to the port together the next day.

 

[Anal Annie]

Okie Dokie, I will contact Suzie and ask her about the beaches. I need to contact her anyway to remind her to book the day off work when we're in Palma so that we can hang out with her. I intend to go to the beach

Sounds good!! I'm sure she will have invaluable information for us!! THANKS!!

it's a real shame that our flights are not going to land in Barcelona closer together in time on the Friday as the price for the transfer to the Novotel is the same for 4 people as it is for 7. We don't land until 13.00

I was debating about just taking a taxi maybe from BCN to the Novotel. Going that direction is probably not as hard as trying to get out of the port. I thought I'd read where a taxi from the airport into the city should only be about 30 euro. JEFF!! Oh JEFF!!! What can you tell us about that trip!?

Depending on your plans do you fancy meeting up for a drink in the hotel bar sometime on the Friday night? I just thought it would be nice to meet before travelling to the port together the next day.

Drink? Did you say DRINK!? I am all for DAT!! I think that we should probably be to the hotel by about the time you land. I figured if the room isn't ready yet we'll just store our luggage and maybe see about walking to the Sagrada Familia or something. Get one thing crossed off our list. OR we may just go to their pool & veg or something. So I would imagine we'll be just sort of hanging around. At least that's what I'm picturing in my mind right now. And at some point we'll have to find a place to eat... I haven't done much research about dining in Barcelona yet...

OK, where has Karen been this week?! And Mikki?! Hello?! Where are ya'll? I am assuming that Jeremy is busy moving overseas. I am having doubts that NJ_Ohana will be back to see us.