August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[ukwizard]

Hopefully maybe they will take credit cards since it's such an international airport?!

Yes, just about everywhere takes cards now in the UK.

I have both UK and US cards as we have homes here and in the US and the only issue I occasionally get if I use my US card here is that it doesn't have a chip in it, so some retailers can say they have to have a chip.

Once you explain its a US card without a chip they just swipe it and away you go. I doubt its a problem at Heathrow though, they must see millions of cards from different countries every day.

 

[DoeWDW]

Thanks, all, for allaying my fears of being stuck in Heathrow, STARVING, and no way to buy food. I'm hoping after the cruise there is still room left on the credit card. Will have to make sure I leave a little extra on there to cover incidentals during the trip home.

 

[mikki.young]

Well I just sorted my euros out - I have some cash but now have a prepaid card for the rest which I use just like a credit card over there. Special offer on with fairfx at the moment giving a better exchange rate. Saves worrying I hope!

 

[Anal Annie]

We also booked romeinlimo for private tour in Rome and for Pompeii/Postiano, Sorrento, etc on our Naples day.

Some craziness here this morning. Got a call from a subtenant in our office condo that it was flooded. Turns out the guy in the office on the 2nd floor installed a water filter on his fridge yesterday and it was not installed correctly so it just pumped water out all night. We have so much water in our office and the office units next to us. The disaster people said they pumped 800 gallons out of the 2nd floor before they moved down to us. What a hassle. Now to deal with insurance companies, repair people, etc. We take DD12 to sleep away camp on Tuesday so have a lot going on.

Is it happy hour yet?

I didn't realize you'd also booked romeinlimo! You're doing the same tour in Naples that we're doing with Mikki & Andrew. Which one did you book for Rome? We're doing the Highlights of Rome. With all the other undecided things we have for Paris & the other ports I'm really glad we have those 2 days settled on. The only thing we don't know is where they will take us to eat. I just want to be sure to get some gelato & some vino!! Do you know, will they just be waiting for us in the port with signs with our names or something? I didn't really ask them...poor Jany - I emailed her so many times already I'm afraid to ask her anything else!!

That sounds like a REAL MESS at your office! I hope nothing too important got ruined! Will the office have to be closed for awhile?! That's a lot of water!! You may need some mold people to look at it too?! Make sure it gets dried out thoroughly. Did you have insulation get wet too? Sounds like the guy on he 2nd floor should've just bought a Brita Water Pitcher!!

Yes, just about everywhere takes cards now in the UK.

I have both UK and US cards as we have homes here and in the US and the only issue I occasionally get if I use my US card here is that it doesn't have a chip in it, so some retailers can say they have to have a chip.

Once you explain its a US card without a chip they just swipe it and away you go. I doubt its a problem at Heathrow though, they must see millions of cards from different countries every day.

So you don't think we'll have any problems not having this chip in our credit cards?! There's a way around it? I saw on the Travelex website that we could get a pre-loaded Mastercard with euros that would have a chip in it. Sounds like a gift card as it can be reloaded with funds. But then we're back to the problem of the crappy conversion rate & not wanting to buy too many euros. But I did wonder if we'd need the chip in the card anyplace.

Thanks, all, for allaying my fears of being stuck in Heathrow, STARVING, and no way to buy food. I'm hoping after the cruise there is still room left on the credit card. Will have to make sure I leave a little extra on there to cover incidentals during the trip home.

Our Capital One card is starting to melt I've been using it so much planning for this trip!! I've been keeping the plastic hot! I think we'll BRING it but try not to use it and instead will also bring our Mastercards that are tied into our Home Equity line (WAS Wachovia, now Wells Fargo). It also has no foreign transaction fees - and a WAY bigger limit and lower interest rate. Never mind that the equity line was supposed to be able to handle DS's college tuition one day! In the short term it will cover gelato & vino!!

 

[mikki.young]

ISo you don't think we'll have any problems not having this chip in our credit cards?! There's a way around it? I saw on the Travelex website that we could get a pre-loaded Mastercard with euros that would have a chip in it. Sounds like a gift card as it can be reloaded with funds. But then we're back to the problem of the crappy conversion rate & not wanting to buy too many euros. But I did wonder if we'd need the chip in the card anyplace.

I think airports are ok but around europe not so much. Might be easier with the prepaid card - don't they do an option to get a refund if you don't use them all? Way back on this thread someone was saying that the conversion rate disney uses on the boats is awful. So caught between you know who and the deep blue sea!

 

[kerrykerr]

Hi all!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. We're in the middle of a heat wave up here in the great white north. The kids have been running through the sprinkler and all I can think is that it'll be this hot in Barcelona, but at least I'll be on the ship!

For those of you who have been on DCL before, what are your "must sees" on the ship itself? I know we won't be able to do everything, but what are your favourite activities onboard?

Kerry

 

[west&east]

I didn't realize you'd also booked romeinlimo! You're doing the same tour in Naples that we're doing with Mikki & Andrew. Which one did you book for Rome? We're doing the Highlights of Rome. With all the other undecided things we have for Paris & the other ports I'm really glad we have those 2 days settled on. The only thing we don't know is where they will take us to eat. I just want to be sure to get some gelato & some vino!! Do you know, will they just be waiting for us in the port with signs with our names or something? I didn't really ask them...poor Jany - I emailed her so many times already I'm afraid to ask her anything else!!

That sounds like a REAL MESS at your office! I hope nothing too important got ruined! Will the office have to be closed for awhile?! That's a lot of water!! You may need some mold people to look at it too?! Make sure it gets dried out thoroughly. Did you have insulation get wet too? Sounds like the guy on he 2nd floor should've just bought a Brita Water Pitcher!!

We are also doing Rome Highlights. The confirmation email I got says the driver will be outside the ship holding a sign with our name. It sounds like they will customize the tour to your preferences. We may be doing a tour at the colloseum and spending less time at the vatican...we may also meet up with some old friends for lunch and Jany said no problem, the driver will do whatever we want.
The disaster company is doing a good job with the office so far. They extracted a ton of water and set up fans and dehumidifiers. They'll have to replace insulation, dry wall, the carpets, some furniture, etc. Yes, I thought the same thing about the Brita pitcher! Luckily, two of my tenants are on vacation this week. I think it will be usable, but not pretty by Wednesday.
Off to get the dog groomed, get DD to piano and then finish packing her up for camp tomorrow!

 

[jd99]

Greetings:

I have a kind of answer on the Mickey shaped pasta - I know that last summer they had it at the beginning of the trip but then ran out - so bottom line is there is no guarantee. My DD7 loves the chicken noodle soup but prefers it with Mickey pasta. They had it and then they didn't.

We had our last long course swim meet of the season over the weekend (B champs) and DD12 had a great meet. Lifetime bests in six of her eight events, including taking nine seconds off her 200 breast stroke time and getting within shouting distance of a BB time! She even took 2 seconds off her 50 breast and a second off her 50 free; and 2.5 off her 100 free. Just a great weekend for her.

Now on to finishing up a HUGE project before I get out of here. A little nervous because client has dragged his feet on approving direction and in fact didn't even tell me that it was set until I asked (again) this morning. Lost the whole weekend of writing time because of that and with us leaving in 2 weeks, that's a big loss..

Happy Monday all! see you soon!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

LeeAnn, did you buy your Euro yet?

 

[Canadian Crew]

Hey All

We are now on the big count down for our trip!

First stop England, 5 days of touring. Off to Pairs for 4 days. Jet off to Bergan Norway for 6 days. Then Spain!!!

We are staying on deck 6 ..... We should be easy to find.... Just look for the pasty white people and mostly likely you found us!

We have some sun now so we are working on getting some color....

We are looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing some good times.

Thanks to all the posters and the information you provide!

Cannot wait to meet you all.

Cheers!!!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Hi all!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. We're in the middle of a heat wave up here in the great white north. The kids have been running through the sprinkler and all I can think is that it'll be this hot in Barcelona, but at least I'll be on the ship!

For those of you who have been on DCL before, what are your "must sees" on the ship itself? I know we won't be able to do everything, but what are your favourite activities onboard?

Kerry

Hi - we're also gearing up for a major heat wave down here this week. Gonna be some HOT swim meets on Wed. & Sat... Supposed to be mid-90's for Wed. then upper 90's a couple days then 100 on Fri. & Sat.!!! Enjoy your warm spell!!

Favorite things for me would be a lounge chair by the adult pool with

Greetings:

We had our last long course swim meet of the season over the weekend (B champs) and DD12 had a great meet. Lifetime bests in six of her eight events, including taking nine seconds off her 200 breast stroke time and getting within shouting distance of a BB time! She even took 2 seconds off her 50 breast and a second off her 50 free; and 2.5 off her 100 free. Just a great weekend for her.

Now on to finishing up a HUGE project before I get out of here. A little nervous because client has dragged his feet on approving direction and in fact didn't even tell me that it was set until I asked (again) this morning. Lost the whole weekend of writing time because of that and with us leaving in 2 weeks, that's a big loss..

Happy Monday all! see you soon!

Way to go DD!! That's awesome!! Guess that fancy swim camp paid off 'eh?! DS had a good season too (although no 9 second drops)! He is also within reach of a 'BB' time in his free. We got the Divisionals line-up today - he IS going to get to swim his 50 backstroke on Saturday. Only 38 kids from our team (out of about 130) get to swim in this meet so I'm happy he will get to compete. Just hoping that he's not in LAST place at the end of the event. Since he's only swimming 1 event he can still swim 2 more strokes + the IM in our "Super Stars" meet on Wed. OH, and I do believe that we will get to watch Jack Congers swim on Saturday since his summer team is in our same Division. This meet is the top 2-3 swimmers from each team. I will try to snap a picture of this phenom as he stands a very good chance of making the Olympic team one day. He had 1 backstroke event at the Grand Prix in Santa Clara where Michael Phelps finished 1st and he finished right behind in 8th place!! I'm excited to see this kid swim. I'll bet that he breaks some pool records on Sat. too.

My DH has been very busy & very stressed at work lately too. He's been in the middle of some IT conversion that hasn't gone well. He didn't want to use the company but the owner of his company is friends with the owner of the other company so he had no choice. He's tried to fire them 2x but his owner keeps hiring them back. He's concerned that they're so crappy that they won't be around for much longer & then where will that leave them. But I told him it's beyond his control. He's been called to go back in at like 10:00 pm & work until 2 or 3:00 am. Then he comes home & they call him again at 5:30 am. It's just been insane for him and he's very frustrated. So I hope your deal works out with less hassle!!

LeeAnn, did you buy your Euro yet?

Sigh. No. I keep looking at the rate on Travelex & it hasn't changed. When you ordered yours were you able to order a mix of denominations??? I don't want large bills! I DID go to Wachovia / Wells Fargo today & withdrew my cash that I was going to use for the euros at Capital One. I told the teller it was for vacation & he said that with our type of account there that there is no fee for Travelers checks. Well, so I still haven't figured out how much I want in euros & how much in Travelers checks and I didn't know what kind of fee Cap. One charges for them. I probably should've just gone ahead & bought $500 in T.C's worth while I was there tho I suppose huh? DOH!! I didn't have enough for $1,000. The rest of our money is at Cap One. I am just a MESS!! I am all over the place!!

Thsi brings me back to my dilemma about how much euros to get.... Calling our UK peeps!! Can any of you think of any time / place at Disneyland Paris that we cannot use a credit card other than for tips? We should be able to use a credit card in all the shops & restaurants, right?

Hey All

We are now on the big count down for our trip!

First stop England, 5 days of touring. Off to Pairs for 4 days. Jet off to Bergan Norway for 6 days. Then Spain!!!

We are staying on deck 6 ..... We should be easy to find.... Just look for the pasty white people and mostly likely you found us!

We have some sun now so we are working on getting some color....

We are looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing some good times.

Thanks to all the posters and the information you provide!

Cannot wait to meet you all.

Cheers!!!!

I can't get over what a big trip you have!! WOW! Just WOW!! And I am overhwelmed with what we've got going on!! I hope you have a great time...and don't forget that at least a few of us will be meeting up in the Promenade Lounge around 2:30 or 3:00 for a quick meet!!

OH, and speaking of our little DIS meet...I am going to probably plan to wear a DIS lime green colored shirt of some sort!! I have a couple in this color. I will also try to coax DH and DS into wearing the DIS lime green too if I can!! DH is not a fan of the matching shirt thing so we'll see. We (or at least I) will stand out from the pack for sure!!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

LeeAnn, when you buy the euro they give you a mix. Now PNC gave me a mix of 100's, 50's, 20's, ,10's and 5's. They did give me 4 100 Euro bills. That's ok cause those are going toward our private tours. No 1 euro bills or coins. So will have to get some change for the potty. I am not big on travelers checks. I'd rather use my ATM card or exchange on the boat. I am going to bring some US dollars, like only 150.

 

[Anal Annie]

LeeAnn, when you buy the euro they give you a mix. Now PNC gave me a mix of 100's, 50's, 20's, ,10's and 5's. They did give me 4 100 Euro bills. That's ok cause those are going toward our private tours. No 1 euro bills or coins. So will have to get some change for the potty. I am not big on travelers checks. I'd rather use my ATM card or exchange on the boat. I am going to bring some US dollars, like only 150.

I will ask for a mix then whenever I get ours. I also am not a big fan of travelers checks & haven't used them in years BUT I am even less of a fan of having to find / use ATM's. Once Sailing confirmed that that the ship will cash an unlimited amount of travelers checks that made the most sense to me. We will try to estimate how much in euros we KNOW we need for gratuites, taxis & trains etc. (I've already pre-paid our romeinlimo tours) then I'll get a few extra for misc. and bring the rest in travelers checks. I just need to get thru our days in Paris & 1 day in Barca before I can start cashing them. But at least THAT WAY we can cash unlimited amounts on the ship daily and exchange for euros on the ship as we need them. I think the exchange rate is so bad EVERYWHERE it can't be THAT MUCH worse there. Better than buying them NOW and getting too many and then needing to exchange them back. (I also don't want to bring our regular checkbook.) If we don't use all the travelers checks we can just deposit them back into our bank account.

 

[ukwizard]

I also am not a big fan of travelers checks & haven't used them in years BUT I am even less of a fan of having to find / use ATM's.

I don't think there is a lot of difference over here Annie. When we used them in the States (well Orlando anyway), we found most shops would just take a travellers check and give you the change in cash, but I've only seen that over here in really touristy shops. Most shops will take either a card or cash so you end up having to take the checks to a bank to change them, and all the banks have atms as well which usually have shorter queues that the counters

So you don't think we'll have any problems not having this chip in our credit cards?! There's a way around it? I saw on the Travelex website that we could get a pre-loaded Mastercard with euros that would have a chip in it. Sounds like a gift card as it can be reloaded with funds. But then we're back to the problem of the crappy conversion rate & not wanting to buy too many euros. But I did wonder if we'd need the chip in the card anyplace.

Cards without chips will work, its just some assistants in shops that don't see many US cards just don't know how to process it and have to get their manager or someone to help. Its the language differences that can make this part 'fun', no problem in the UK, but in Europe and especially France for some reason it can be interesting!

But you really won't have problems in most shops, especially in any cities or tourist destinations etc as they are used to seeing foreign cards and quite happy to take your money!

 

[Anal Annie]

I don't think there is a lot of difference over here Annie. When we used them in the States (well Orlando anyway), we found most shops would just take a travellers check and give you the change in cash, but I've only seen that over here in really touristy shops. Most shops will take either a card or cash so you end up having to take the checks to a bank to change them, and all the banks have atms as well which usually have shorter queues that the counters


Cards without chips will work, its just some assistants in shops that don't see many US cards just don't know how to process it and have to get their manager or someone to help. Its the language differences that can make this part 'fun', no problem in the UK, but in Europe and especially France for some reason it can be interesting!


But you really won't have problems in most shops, especially in any cities or tourist destinations etc as they are used to seeing foreign cards and quite happy to take your money!

I was only planning to bring USD Travelers Checks to cash on the ship "as needed" throughout the week. I am not planning to bring Euro Travelers Checks since the exchange rate is so bad. We would need Euro ones to use in the ports. But the crappy exchange rate is what I am trying to avoid!! I don't want to exchange more than I need to. Hopefully our credit cards will work fine. I can't imagine NEEDING to buy anything SOOOO badly other than FOOOOOD that we could just say forget it and walk away if the credit cards don't work!!

I need to sort out how much we owe to Kelly for transfers (was the transfer to the port from the Novotel 50 euros or 55?) and then how much we'll get from Mikki & Andrew for our Naples tour & beer mug but less the transfer we're splitting at the port with Autovilars. That will affect how much we'll really need. Guess it's time to talk about it. Mikki - tell me again, how much was that transfer and are we splitting the romeinlimo tour 50/50 or dividing the total per person?? I think the total for the day was 600 euros including the private guide at Pompeii... I reckon you guys will be on your own for any tipping you might want to add (or not add) for the guides / driver. I was guessing we'd allow for 10% of our portion. I hate this difference between the US & Europe for tipping. I wish it was all uniform...I just want to do what's appropriate. I think I need a calculator!! Tell me when it's 5:00 over there so I can have a cold drink while I calculate! PM me if you'd rather discuss that way!!

 

[mikki.young]

I was only planning to bring USD Travelers Checks to cash on the ship "as needed" throughout the week. I am not planning to bring Euro Travelers Checks since the exchange rate is so bad. We would need Euro ones to use in the ports. But the crappy exchange rate is what I am trying to avoid!! I don't want to exchange more than I need to. Hopefully our credit cards will work fine. I can't imagine NEEDING to buy anything SOOOO badly other than FOOOOOD that we could just say forget it and walk away if the credit cards don't work!!

I need to sort out how much we owe to Kelly for transfers (was the transfer to the port from the Novotel 50 euros or 55?) and then how much we'll get from Mikki & Andrew for our Naples tour & beer mug but less the transfer we're splitting at the port with Autovilars. That will affect how much we'll really need. Guess it's time to talk about it. Mikki - tell me again, how much was that transfer and are we splitting the romeinlimo tour 50/50 or dividing the total per person?? I think the total for the day was 600 euros including the private guide at Pompeii... I reckon you guys will be on your own for any tipping you might want to add (or not add) for the guides / driver. I was guessing we'd allow for 10% of our portion. I hate this difference between the US & Europe for tipping. I wish it was all uniform...I just want to do what's appropriate. I think I need a calculator!! Tell me when it's 5:00 over there so I can have a cold drink while I calculate! PM me if you'd rather discuss that way!!

I am juggling the two trips at the moment and trying not to get the euros and dollars mixed up (Bermuda is dollars on a 1:1 ratio with US$) and with the added confusion of dollars on the boat! I'm just trying to get the right money, right flights, right clothes, hotels etc in the right piles!

The transfer from the port is 50 euros between us plus any tip - like you say each do our own on the tip front. I remember the 600 euro figure. I'm happy to split that whatever way you think fairest. If you get the beer mug would you like that in euros instead of dollars?

Oh and to help find us at the promenade lounge meet - look out for this character!

 

[Kels Sem]

Hi Leeann, the transfer was 55 euro. Just think only 3 weeks until you will be in Paris
Try not to stress too much about the money situation, I've never encountered problems with credit cards etc and we used to have to swipe our cards years ago and it was fine.

 

[Anal Annie]

OK, so I was looking at our list for our DIS meet. I wish everyone would pop in more often - it's been awhile since some have come & chatted. I would've thought the chatter would've picked up now that we're this close!! Anyway, at some point or other we had the following peeps say they would come & say hi. Please chime in & correct me if I'm wrong, if I've missed you or if you've changed your mind or if I've misunderstood anything ('cuz THAT HAPPENS with me)!!

YES's
Me - LeeAnn - 2 A, 1 C (DS14)
KelsSem - Kelly - 2 A, 2 C (DS6 & DD4)
West&East - Karen - 2 A, 2 C (DD12 & DS8)
Jd99 - Jeff - 2 A, 2 C (DD12, almost 13 & DD7)
Mikki - 2 A, -0- C
Cumbley - Cheryl - 2 A, 2 C (DD8 & DD5)
Joanne - 2 A, 1 C (DS4)
MallenBeadle - Jon - 2 A, 2 C (DD9 & DD5)
DoeWDW - Doreen - 2 A, -0- C
Castaway JP - Jeremy - 2 A, 3 C (DD12, DD4 & DS3)
Goofygoof - Shereen - 2 A, 1 C (DS5)
Janet - 2 A, 2 C (8 & 3 - never said if DD's or DS's)
KerryKerr - Kerry - 2 A, 1 C (DD5, almost 6)
Fongds - Diane - 2 A, 3 C (DD11, DD6 & DD6)

So if I am counting right that makes 14 DD's and 6 DS's + Janet's 2 C for a total of 22 C at the meet.


Not committed or not coming or just plain never said:

Criscoloo, Canandian Crew (although last post sounded like a maybe?!), Sailing Seas, Luke, LNRP, Esther, Sharon L, UKWizard, Rexalite, Chrssher, MJWBCV and NJ_Ohana.


Meanwhile, I am just not getting anything done that I NEEEED to get done! I just can't get it together. DS's swim team was making shirts this morning for their big Super Stars meet tomorrow night & I paid for 1 for him & not for DH & I. They were a bright royal blue & they took bleach & sprayed on them (scrunched them up & tied them up to sort of make like a tie dyed effect). Well, so DS wasn't entirely happy with the way his turned out...but the bleach is pretty permanent. So then I thought maybe DH & I should have matching shirts too and I told DS he could do ours for us if I could find some to buy & see if they came out any better than his. WELLLL, so I went to Wal-Mart & they were all but cleaned out of the color (since our team had already bought just about every last one they had). I found a couple tho in the right color but in a different brand. OK, so I picked up a little plastic bottle to use for the bleach. Come home, fill it, we go outside to start spraying them and WOULDN'T YA KNOW that Fruit Of The Loom is COLOR FAST!??! The bleach didn't work!! I mean it made some spots a little lighter, but it didn't remove the color. So then I went back out to Michaels to get some white fabric paint. Got sidetracked on both shopping trips with other stuff of course so that I wasted my entire afternoon. We just finished painting the shirts a little while ago & are waiting for them to dry. I don't think they're going to look anything at all like the others tho. But oh well. What was I going to do with the shirts? I had removed the tags & wadded them & twisted them up with rubber bands & had sprayed them with bleach. I couldn't exactly return them & say they were defective or anything! Crafts are just not my thing!!

 

[joe3]

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!

 

[DoeWDW]

Mikki, I really enjoyed Figaro's blog and all the pictures! What a handsome kitty! I'm looking forward to meeting him (and you & Andrew as well!) at the Promenade Lounge.