August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[luke]

I get even more jealous of you guys who can get to WDW easily and much more cheaply

Only planning on going to Spain for 3 nights, been wanting to go to Málaga for ages (I used to live there)! Most important is I'll be away from home during the Grand National (famous horse race) when the traffic and crowds by my house get mad!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Joanne, I was only going to take $1 for room service tipping as I know that we will order things to the room. As for everything else I knew that it would be charged to our account. I didn't realise we could use euros to tip with like Annie said.

I really just don't think the CM's are going to care one way or the other about the type of currency as they can also exchange it to whatever they want. It's only for room service - we've never ordered anything from room service before. All other tips at bars & such are added automatically onto your bill. Oh, and we just charge our gratuties to our onboard account. Were you thinking of paying THOSE in cash? I personally think it's easier to just charge them...but I guess if you wanted to pay those in cash you might want USD... Hummmmm.

Nice swims for your son! Congrats. We are on a break - don't necessarily like that the team takes a 2.5 week break between short and long course season but the coaches swear by it - say that it pays off in the long run when it comes to not burning out. The coaches want the kids to run and play and ride bikes outdoors and breath in the fresh air - in the warmth. The problem of course is that (except for this morning) it has been in the 30s since the break started! Well these folks have been quite successful coaching at a major university with a top swim team for 15-20 years so I'll trust them. Looking forward to long course season for sure!

Our club team only takes 1 week off in the spring - always the week that our schools are closed for break which is always either the week before or the week after Easter. This year since Easter is so late it's the week before...so the downside is that our long course meet is the following weekend after break. They will only be back to practice for 1 week before the meet. Then this session ends the first weekend in May. They offered a 5 week summer session with evening practices until school is out in a couple of programs and a 12 week program in some other programs. I just signed DS up for one of the 5 week sessions which starts May 10 - we will have another long course meet then in May. It will run thru June 10 and then we'll start practicing with his summer team the next week (school lets out in the middle of that week). I can't afford both teams and if we did the 12 week session with the Tiburones he would have to go to a 5:15 -7:30 am practice!! Our summer team practices are from 7:30 - 9:00 am and costs a fraction of the cost so I decided to just make the switch at the end of the school year. We have a pretty good summer team (we bounce between B & C Division which is very good considering they go all the way down to O Division). August will be OFF from both and then we'll go back to the Tiburones at the end of August.

Jealous of all you Europeans who can hop over to DLP, Spain and even Egypt for vacations!

Annie mentioned Pirate Night. What can expect for Pirate Night on the Mediterranean Cruise? What night/ port will it be, do we know yet? (I bet Annie does!) My son just said, "I can bring my eye patch!" You bet kiddo!

Finally getting around to buying trip insurance. USAA has great coverage at great cost but I do wish I bought it when I put my deposit down because then I could have had the preexisting condition coverage. Didn't know I would get a "condition" in the meantime. I'm sure I'll be fine.

Yup! Pirate night is supposed to be on night # 5!!
I still need to buy our trip insurance too...can't decide between Travel Guard Gold and Travel Insured...both are very similar.

I get even more jealous of you guys who can get to WDW easily and much more cheaply

Only planning on going to Spain for 3 nights, been wanting to go to Málaga for ages (I used to live there)! Most important is I'll be away from home during the Grand National (famous horse race) when the traffic and crowds by my house get mad!!

Oh ONLY 3 nights!! Have a fun time!!

 

[mikki.young]

So the onboard bills will be in US dollars? That would be fine as I can use my citibank dollar account for that if so. Will probably acquire a few dollar bills when I am in Bermuda next month. I am thinking I may be ordering coffee each morning on room service.

Got distracted last week as we finally got our new car. It is a hybrid (can't believe they are doing small car hybrids now!) and a Honda Jazz (think they are called Honda Fit in USA). Looks like someone else thinks they are the new owner if you look at the dashboard - lol


hybrid by mikki.young@btinternet.com, on Flickr

Also got Andrew an early birthday present (that I think he will be sharing with me!) - a kindle. So I am learning how it works so I can answer his questions. I have to read a few books on it to just to be sure, don't I?

 

[west&east]

Also got Andrew an early birthday present (that I think he will be sharing with me!) - a kindle. So I am learning how it works so I can answer his questions. I have to read a few books on it to just to be sure, don't I?

I'll wager that you will each have your own kindle within 6 months! We are now a 3 kindle family. I got my husband one several years ago when they first came out since he was traveling so much. Got myself one soon after. I recently upgraded to the newest version and passed mine on to my daughter. My husband is actually using the kindle app on the ipad quite a bit now but it still isn't a kindle replacement.

 

[luke]

Nice car! I got a new car in September, still has that new car smell

Booked my weekend trip to Spain, looking forward to a few relaxing days in on of my favourite cities

 

[Kels Sem]

Nice car! I got a new car in September, still has that new car smell

Booked my weekend trip to Spain, looking forward to a few relaxing days in on of my favourite cities

Enjoy your few days away.

 

[Kels Sem]

Mikki - Enjoy your new car

 

[CastawayJP]

Yeah nice car! I love Hondas! We just had to sell our Civic Hybrid before we moved... She had 220k miles on her and still ran great! Would have been nice to have a Hybrid with gas at the equivalent of $7 a gallon...

Hmmmm I wonder if the Jazz is available in Romania

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

Hello Sharon welcome aboard great to have more children of the similar age group I am Shereen (37) dh Dave (55) and Ds Youssef 5 on the 11th of august we're in Essex not far from you . We're planning to do same have 2 nights at bcn before the cruise was going to book wz easyjet from stansted . Will have to sort the excursion after our easter break as we're off to Egypt next week anyway welcome aboard and happy planning

Have a great Holiday x

 

[Anal Annie]

Mikki - Congrats on the car! That's a neat color - I don't think I've seen that over here (yet). I also love Honda's - I have a 6 yr old Honda Pilot. My first 3 cars were Honda's. Can't go wrong with them!!

I downloaded Rick Steve's Paris book on my Kindle...been reading up on the Eiffel Tower & stuff while I wait for DS at swim practice. I still need to get a cover for it. I want to get the lighted one from Amazon.com but silly Amazon doesn't take PayPal (I have been saving up some spare change in my PayPal account so I was bummed that I couldn't use it there). I think rather than getting a Kindle for DS for his birthday we're going to spring for the new iPad 2 for him. He's been mentioning wanting one since just before Christmas...Naaaaa...he's not spoiled or anything! Figured it will come in handy on the trip...and he can play is iPod games on it too. Plus get books. I know he will probably have to read 2 required books over the summer so he can always put one on it to bring on the trip as I am sure he won't be done with both before we leave and his school starts up the week after we get back.


JP - hurry up & book dude!!! Tryin' to hold ya a spot!! What deck do you want?!

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

Hi,

Thanks for the prompt reply much appreciated

Sheereen, we are looking at going with EasyJet but from Gatwick as cheaper and more choice of flight times.

No doubt I will be back with more questions.

Take Care
Sharon xx

Welcome Aboard,
So wish we was staying a couple of nights in Barcelona first never gave it a thought when we booked, our flights were in with the holiday package with Virgin so can't change now.
Oh well will have to see for next year if my DH agrees, so excited now when I mention our holiday at work know one as heard of a DCL so its nice to check out reviews and tips on here

 

[luke]

Welcome Aboard,
So wish we was staying a couple of nights in Barcelona first never gave it a thought when we booked, our flights were in with the holiday package with Virgin so can't change now.
Oh well will have to see for next year if my DH agrees, so excited now when I mention our holiday at work know one as heard of a DCL so its nice to check out reviews and tips on here

DCL isn't in Europe next year, howeverthey are cruising out of New York which would be beyond cool

 

[SharonL]

Hey All,

The sun is shining here and a balmy 70 degrees!!!! Looks like our summer has come early (I hope its not the only day of it).

How do you guys know about the Pirate Night, do DCL send you some info on this and if so when, all I have is an invoice from them!

Can I just ask a second opinion on a flight. There is a flight out of Barcelona a 10.40 do you think it will be a bit of a push to get this on disembarkation day? The next flight is 14.25 but £200 more which I would rather spend on something else!

Last day of school for my DS tomorrow, two whole weeks of not doing the school run...bliss and we have a week away in Norfolk so pray for good weather

 

[Anal Annie]

DCL isn't in Europe next year, howeverthey are cruising out of New York which would be beyond cool

Even tho NY is only about a 5 hour drive for us I think their new Magic itineraries out of NY sound pretty boring and overpriced. They aren't even stopping in Bermuda! I am SOOO glad we booked our Med cruise for this summer!! Who knows when they will go back to Europe. We are planning to go to Hawaii in 2012 to the new DVC resort so we won't be cruising again anytime soon anyway. I WOULD like to go on the Fantasy next though...maybe we can go again in 2014 or 2015. We'll have to see if we can rebook a dummy date again maybe this summer. For any of you who aren't familiar with that process if you can rebook onboard you get an additional onboard credit and a 10% discount off the price (and usually only have to put 1/2 of the normal deposit amount). This cruise is actually from a "dummy" booking we did in 2008 - we just kept moving the date until they offered an itinerary we wanted to do.

Hey All,

The sun is shining here and a balmy 70 degrees!!!! Looks like our summer has come early (I hope its not the only day of it).

How do you guys know about the Pirate Night, do DCL send you some info on this and if so when, all I have is an invoice from them!

Can I just ask a second opinion on a flight. There is a flight out of Barcelona a 10.40 do you think it will be a bit of a push to get this on disembarkation day? The next flight is 14.25 but £200 more which I would rather spend on something else!

Last day of school for my DS tomorrow, two whole weeks of not doing the school run...bliss and we have a week away in Norfolk so pray for good weather

70's are NICE! 80's better yet. I hope your weather holds for you! We were up to 80 for 1 day last week (Friday) then it got cold again. About 30 over night and 40's-50's during the day. Supposed to hit 60's & 70 again later this week / next weekend. It may have snowed in Jeffs area yesterday. SPRING! It's so fickle!!

I think from what I've read in the past about those early flights that 10:40 am IS doable from Barcelona. I don't think the airport is more than about 30 minutes from the port. I remember reading about it before because there are a lot of flights leaving for the US that are that early and even people who booked DCL's "cruise air" got put on flights that left early. You just need to let them know when you check in for the cruise that you need to get off early on the last morning. Do you have early dining or late? If you have late then you would have the later breakfast time so you would have to eat at the buffet on your own early & skip your meal at your assigned time so you can disembark early.

"We" know about pirate night because I am a tad bit obsessive (which is why I am Anal Annie) and so I keep DCL's phone number in my cell phone so I can call and ask them stuff - like what night is pirate night (5) & what night is formal night (2) and what night is semi-formal night (6).

Hey Kelly - did you finish booking our transfer from the hotel to the port yet? How much will we owe you for that? I know you were looking into it...couldn't remember if you finished booking that or not. Did they ever answer you about dropping at 2 places after the cruise? I was wondering if I need to look into booking something for just us or not?! I am debating about just using a taxi to the hotel from the airport when we arrive in Barca and then trying to figure out our best way to go back to the airport from our hotel when we leave. I think the taxis look like the cheapest option.

 

[CastawayJP]

Ok this potential Government shutdown is going to make booking my cruise that much more complicated... They need to sort things out quick!

 

[Anal Annie]

Ok this potential Government shutdown is going to make booking my cruise that much more complicated... They need to sort things out quick!

Oh NOOOO! Does that mean you would you would be "off" too and have to use your leave or does it mean that there would be nobody around to approve your vaca?! How will this affect you?! I will cross my fingers!!

 

[luke]

Hey All,

The sun is shining here and a balmy 70 degrees!!!! Looks like our summer has come early (I hope its not the only day of it).

How do you guys know about the Pirate Night, do DCL send you some info on this and if so when, all I have is an invoice from them!

Can I just ask a second opinion on a flight. There is a flight out of Barcelona a 10.40 do you think it will be a bit of a push to get this on disembarkation day? The next flight is 14.25 but £200 more which I would rather spend on something else!

Last day of school for my DS tomorrow, two whole weeks of not doing the school run...bliss and we have a week away in Norfolk so pray for good weather

You should be fine for your flight, as it's not transatlantic so check in time is later. Are you looking at easyjet? You can check in online before you go and get your boarding passes printed and stuff. Tho last time I flew from BCN easyjet had one line for all their flights and it did take us a fair while to get through it

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

DCL isn't in Europe next year, howeverthey are cruising out of New York which would be beyond cool

Thanks for that info Luke. I have looked online and just thought they had not released any dates yet.
Great news that you can book onboard and receive a discount but do DCL arrange flights for you as could work out expensive flying to Newyork for us in the school holidays.
Annie could we book and just keep changing our mind then till they return to Barcelona or Southampton that would be great

 

[CastawayJP]

Oh NOOOO! Does that mean you would you would be "off" too and have to use your leave or does it mean that there would be nobody around to approve your vaca?! How will this affect you?! I will cross my fingers!!

Yeah we would be on a forced vacation, but it wouldn't come out of our annual leave... It just means that everything comes to a halt, and slows down the entire process...

I'm sure they'll figure something out. Nobody wants the blame for shutting down the entire government!

 

[Anal Annie]

Thanks for that info Luke. I have looked online and just thought they had not released any dates yet.
Great news that you can book onboard and receive a discount but do DCL arrange flights for you as could work out expensive flying to Newyork for us in the school holidays.
Annie could we book and just keep changing our mind then till they return to Barcelona or Southampton that would be great

Yes! There is no limit to how many times you can move a reservation as long as you do it before the PIF date! We orig. booked this cruise in July 2008 for a dummy date in Dec. 2009 as that was the furthest we could go. Then when they released the 2010 itineraries we moved it to Dec. 2010 as we were also waiting to be able to afford Europe. Then when they announced 2011 we moved it to a 10 night in August. Then they changed the August cruises to 7 nights so we moved it to July 20. Then we decided we were better off to go in August & we moved it to this August 13 date!! So all together it we were on 5 different dates!!! Now, when we FIRST booked the deposits were done as a fixed amount per person so we just booked 1 person & rather than having to pay $250 we got by with $125. Then when we moved it the first time they asked us to put the 50% amount down on our other 2 so we had to add $250. Then when we booked the Med the deposit amounts were higher ($600 pp I think it was) so they had us increase our dep. amount from $125 pp to $300 pp (still got to do the 50% off amount but had to meet the new amount). Then at some point last year they changed to the percentage method for deposits and we were already at more than that so we didn't have to do anything.

Yeah we would be on a forced vacation, but it wouldn't come out of our annual leave... It just means that everything comes to a halt, and slows down the entire process...

I'm sure they'll figure something out. Nobody wants the blame for shutting down the entire government!

I have my fingers crossed for you!!! I want you to get booked!!!!!!!! I guess they're debating what to do about the Cherry Blossom parade this weekend....technically I guess it should get cancelled. I feel bad for the bands that probably had a bazillion fundraisers to afford to go...and it was probably a really big deal for them to go.