August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[SailingSeas]

45 days to go!!

Has anyone with a GTY cabin got their room assignment yet? This is our first Disney cruise and we are still waiting for ours.

Andy

Hi Andy,

I have two Cat 11C's; both were in GTY status. One has been assigned, and one has not. I told them that it's the kid's room so they can broom closet them, so I"m sure Disney is merely waiting for availability.

 

[SailingSeas]

...just did my research on Cinque Terre and the lovely Vie dell'Amore...

yes. i'll be on the ferry. Better pictures anyways. Who needs a day long hike when there's wine to be had...?

 

[ukwizard]

Hi Andy,

I have two Cat 11C's; both were in GTY status. One has been assigned, and one has not. I told them that it's the kid's room so they can broom closet them, so I"m sure Disney is merely waiting for availability.

Just logged in and our room has been assigned, someone must have been listening!

Booked a 6A and we have been assigned a 6A handicapped room, The plan shows its a big room with a large verandah

Ive read it has a shower and no split bath but thats not a problem for me!

Bring on the cruise!!!

Andy

 

[SailingSeas]

We got ours too. Now in 2021 and 2013, the old Cat 12's We'll be close to the tender!

 

[luke]

You're very close to me in the old cat 12s then.
May try for an upgrade at port but not overly bothered if there's nothing available

 

[rexalite]

Hello all- we are late to the party! Just booked for our first cruise, and are very looking forward to it. My husband and I are 38, and our son is 3. I am in the midst of planning our shore excursions, and wondering if anyone is interested in sharing a private shore excursion at any of the stops in Italy. Does anyone have any advice regarding excursions?

Is this group doing FE? Is there a facebook group as well?

 

[SailingSeas]

You're very close to me in the old cat 12s then.
May try for an upgrade at port but not overly bothered if there's nothing available

Howdy neighbor! I'll be the one laughing at something stupid I did while DS is rolling his eyes and DD is trying to convince me she can stay up all night.

I'd like to check too, but only 04's are available at this time, so i'm not holding out hope. First time inside, so hopefully it will be okay.

I haven't seen an FE list, but I think I'd decline due to baggage restrictions. I"m pushing 50lbs as it is, with work stuff (which I have to travel with) I'm pretty sure Annie will be along to update shortly once she stops long enough to catch her breath. Welcome to the ship!

 

[luke]

Yeah I think luggage allowances put paid to Annies plans for an FE.

We are literally slap bang in the middle of your two cabins, it goes you, stranger, us, stranger, you
I don't hold out any hope to upgrade and wouldn't be paying for a 4 as on our one and only other cruise we only ever went to our room to sleep or change, and being just the two of us room isn't an issue so much

 

[mikki.young]

Hello all- we are late to the party! Just booked for our first cruise, and are very looking forward to it. My husband and I are 38, and our son is 3. I am in the midst of planning our shore excursions, and wondering if anyone is interested in sharing a private shore excursion at any of the stops in Italy. Does anyone have any advice regarding excursions?

Is this group doing FE? Is there a facebook group as well?

Welcome! I am sharing with Annie at Naples already. If you wanted to do something at Le Spezia we could be interested. Currently we have booked the DCL trip to 'Florence on your own' but would b happy to look at a tour company. Trouble with that day is that it is a national holiday in Italy.

Not aware of a Facebook group and think we had decided against FE because of the luggage limitations as the others have said.

I wonder where Annie is?

 

[Anal Annie]

Hi gang!! I'm here...busy day. Ran several errands today after DS's morning swim practice then "we" had a swim meet this evening & had to leave out for that in the afternoon. Just got home a little while ago.

I had decided that I absolutely HATED my RX sunglasses so I went out to buy new ones today. Whenever they get warm these get REALLY loose (HELLLLLO! I wear them in ths SUN!) Definitely NOT in my budget right now to buy new ones but these ones I bought last fall have this darned plastic frame that keeps getting loose at the temples & they won't stay up on my nose. I keep tightening them but they won't stay. They're literally falling off my face unless I use an eyeglass strap & tighten it up. They are quite pricey since I get them souped up with the polarizing AND no-line progressives. Anyway, I had gone someplace else last fall for new glasses because they were cheaper than the other place I'd always gone but turned out not to be such a bargain. I went back to my old place & found a pair of Tortoise shell Ray Bans & they will be ready tomorrow (40% off but still a big chunk of change). I just couldn't deal with that eyeglass strap one more day!! Cross your fingers I found the right ones this time!!!

It sounds like we'll all be cozy together regardless of which deck we're on! Kelly is booked right next door to us on deck 6 (I am soooo worried she will hear DH snore)!!!

rexalite! Another newbie I see!! I will add you to the roll call on the first post. Where are you from? Are you from the US or Europe? You can get a lot of your first time cruise questions answered here on the DISboards!! Somebody came & posted here like once or twice (a LONG time ago) and said she was starting a FaceBook page but then she never came back! Guess we scared her off! And no, our group did not organize a FE exchange. They ARE a lot of fun but there are just so many luggage restrictions for everyone to deal with. Several of us are adding time in Europe before & after the cruise so packing can get complicated & you want to leave a little room to bring some souvies home too. I am DETERMINED to stick to 1 checked bag per person. Last time we did the FE exchange it pretty much consumed up a whole carry-on bag & it was only with 11 cabins!! This group is 2x that size so it would get to be a lot of stuff.

BTW for ALL the new cruisers that have joined us lately - some of us are planning a little DIS meet & greet sort of thing on our first day - in the Promenande Lounge around 2:30 - 3:00 or so. The lifeboat / safety drill is at 4:00 so it won't last long - it's mainly just to say hi & put a face to a name - that way you'll feel like you know others on the ship when you see them in passing or on excursions etc. Let us know if you'd like to join up. It's nothing too organized - just like to know who we can expect to see!!

OK - I am a pooped peep right now. My back is killing me from standing at the meet all evening so I'm gonna go for now. But you know I'll BE BACK!!!

 

[janetfk]

Yeah I think luggage allowances put paid to Annies plans for an FE.

We are literally slap bang in the middle of your two cabins, it goes you, stranger, us, stranger, you
I don't hold out any hope to upgrade and wouldn't be paying for a 4 as on our one and only other cruise we only ever went to our room to sleep or change, and being just the two of us room isn't an issue so much

We're not far from you either!

 

[SailingSeas]

rofl Luke, that is awesome. Of course, given this proximity, I am now imagining my daughter picking up a UK accent, tinged with New England Twang to take to high school with her.

When i saw the pricing of the 04's, I was rather shattered and pretty much not likely to try and upgrade. I'd rather not be so far from the kids anyways, this is their first sailing sans Parental Units and Mommy's having a slight case of the 'why did I do this now...?"

 

[kerrykerr]

Hi everyone!

Well, my parents are just back from their first cruise EVER and it was on the Wonder in Alaska. They, of course, loved it! I'm hoping this means they'll want to do cruises with us in the future. In addition to the spectacular views of the icebergs, they got to see whales and other sea life. They did an excursion on one of the boats used in that deep sea crab fishing show.

Hearing about their experiences on the ship is making me even more excited to get on our cruise! They couldn't stop raving about the service and the overall Disney experience.

I'm curious: What's everyone doing in Monte Carlo? We've booked the Little Train excursion, but I'm wondering if that's a port we could do on our own just getting off the ship and walking around. Has anybody ever been there before?

Kerry

 

[fongds]

Annie - i think you mentioned you are staying in the St. Germain area of Paris....we are very near Jardin Louxembourg so not too far away? We will probably do the following:

Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Parc Asterix, Disneyland, Notre Dame, Musee D'Orsay, Versailles, maybe a tour to see Loire Castles plus just wandering and enjoying the parks/food. We have 8 days in Paris so time to do a lot.

We'd love to join you in the promenade lounge the first day.

My older daughter comes back from camp today and then we have a swim meet.

i think you asked about our flights. We fly directly from San Francisco to Paris on Air France; i'm hoping the kids might sleep!

Diane (getting excited!)

 

[west&east]

Hi Gang,
Summer has been quite busy so far. We hosted the middle school dance team here for a "team building" event this morning. 21 girls, 2 activities, breakfast and done at 11am. Whew. I am tired. We leave tomorrow to celebrate the 4th with my inlaws in Arkansas. Looking forward to watching fireworks from the boat. Last year, we were stuck in a parking lot somewhere for 2 hours after the fireworks!

Had some friends return from the Dream and saw their photos. Definitely putting me in the Disney mood! Do any of you have the Disney Visa card? Got an offer for $200 rewards after the first purchase. Kind of wishing I had it before we booked the cruise because you have more time to pay, but I could use it if we do go back to Disney World this winter.

Karen

 

[SailingSeas]

The Dream is amazing, but silly me, I do prefer the intimacy of the Magic and the Wonder.

Kerry, we are tendering in Villefranche; Monte Carlo is approximately 20-30 minutes away once you've boarded the train. It seems a very expensive city to me (this is a trip-of-a-lifetime for the kids kind of trip) but you can navigate it on your own. If you want to take the train there yourself, it's a short walk from the tender drop off.

I've fallen in love with the old section of Villefranche, so I think we are going to wander around and hike through the town, and go to the beach along the coast. The sands are supposed to be some of the best along the western med, outside of Palma, and i'm dying to try out my rusty French. It's right before two big days for us, and I've always wanted to take photos along the Cote d'Azure, so we'll meander around until time to board. It might be neat to just pop over to Monte Carlo for a bit so we can say we've visited another country, but we'll see.

I just realized I answer posts on this forum just so that I can daydream myself...

 

[west&east]

The Dream is amazing, but silly me, I do prefer the intimacy of the Magic and the Wonder.

I just realized I answer posts on this forum just so that I can daydream myself...

Glad to read what you wrote about the intimacy of the Magic. One of the reasons we chose the Magic for the Med cruise was its size. I couldn't see cruising around Europe on a big 4000 passenger ship like the Epic.

 

[SailingSeas]

W&E - have been on a dozen of them, including the Dream twice, and i'm happy to be back on the Magic. To me, it's perfect for Europe.

 

[kerrykerr]

Thanks for the info on Monte Carlo. We'll probably just stick with the DCL excursion.

It's good to hear that everyone likes the Magic so much. It sounds like it will be "just right" for Europe.

 

[DoeWDW]

I SHOULD be planning port adventures on our own but I've been a bit preoccupied. My beloved 5 year old dachshund Casey had his back go out earlier this week and is, at this point, paralyzed in his hind legs. He's at the vet's office, getting IV steroids and being looked after but when he comes home it will be 8 weeks of strict confinement while he heals. Of course, we have the cruise - guess I'll board him at the vet's office so they can look after him, while my other dachsie goes to our standard kennel.

We're hoping he will regain some use of his back legs but we won't know until the 8 weeks confinement is over. UGH!

So, I'm guessing I'll just pick some of the DCL excursions and be done with it. Taking care of my little dachshund is going to consume a lot of my time and he is way more important than planning any sightseeing in Europe. Cross your fingers and send up some positive thoughts for Casey, if you would.