August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[luke]

Sounds shocking anyway! You guys really do get a raw deal when it comes to cell phones

 

[SailingSeas]

Must get to some planning! Anyone doing Rome on their own without a tour? And those of you doing the La Spezia stop on your own - what are your thoughts on the Italian holiday that day? I am afraid everything will be really crowded.

We are doing all ports on our own. For Rome, we are taking the train (there is a really good pictorial writeup at http://www.europeportreviews.com/Rome2.htm ) disembarking near St. Peter's Basilica to see it (no entry fee), then head off on a free Podcast from Rick Steve's on seeing the colleseum. (god lord, i'm half greek and still can't spell that word right) At any rate, here are a couple of really good itinerary link and online ticket purchases as well:

http://www.roninrome.com/ sites-and-attractions/rome-in-a-day-for-cruisers

http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/...c/65083/rome-in-a-day-from-a-cruise-stop.html



We are also doing La Spezia on our own. We are packing daybags and visiting Cinque Terre, and exploring the villages. (kids veto'd doing a "stupid leaning pisa pick they could photoshop themselves into. Yes, I did want to ground them for life.) My consolation is making them hike the "Via dell'Amore" for a bit, but we'll pack picnic lunches we manage to squirrel from the ship and add to it along the way. We'll probably look for the commuter boat and then swim at Monterosso before heading back by train, which runs every hour.

There is some really good first hand advice here:

http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=5539
http://www.jonathanbaker.org/blog/eu05/33.html (this blog cinched my decision to torture said teens with an early morning hike...)
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/liguria/cinqueterretrails.htm (this is a really good description of the trail segments)

 

[janetfk]

Morning peeps!! Can I just say that I love waking up & seeing all the chatter we have going on here now while I am asleep!!

We Europeans like doing out bit to keep the thread on page 1!

Janet - if you go back to page 85 here on the thread (post #1267) you can see some of the Mickey Head Maps I did up for some of the others in our group. I basically just put whatever they asked on the right ear & then posted a copy of it here on the thread. You should be able to then right click on the image and save it to your own computer to print out. Then you can get it laminated if you want (or not, it's up to you) and put some magnets on the back so you can use it as a door sign for your cabin door. (I use some business card magnets that have a self adhesive side and I cut them up into like 8 pieces to just use on the corners.) So anyway, if you have something in particular you'd like me to customize for you let me know & I'll try to get it done this week. I gotta remember which Disney font I ended up using as it's been awhile now. Otherwise I could post a blank one!
Those are awesome. If you have time, could you post one for us with the dates in the left ear and Johann, Janet, Christoph and Katie in the right?
If you a rushed, simply a blank map would be great too! Thanks!

 

[Kels Sem]

Well today I got DH to get the bags out of the attic and now I'm beginning to panic about how I'm going to fit everything in I ordered some more packing cubes as I can't find some of the ones I bought last year. I will probably find them when we come home
I also ordered myself another new dress.

Luggage scales really are a great invention

 

[janetfk]

Sudden panic: are we expected to tip (room service etc - the once-off things) in Euros or in Dollars?
Or doesn't it matter?

 

[luke]

Dollars I believe would be the one

 

[janetfk]

Dollars I believe would be the one

I hadn't even considered needing to get dollars! Just assumed because the ship was in the Med it would be euros!
Oops!

 

[ukwizard]

That's a pretty good deal! I doubt they would send a micro sim for the same offer would they?!

Yes, just fill out for form on their website and they will send you one (or two). I have one working in my iPad now as you get 500mb of data when you top up £ 10, so I'm using that to make sure it all works (which it does!). Ive downloaded an app called 'Onavo' as well which claims to save data through compression for iPhones and iPads so Ill see how that goes!

The free sim took about a week to arrive though, so you dont have much time left, maybe they have them in the stores as well.

Very strange that your American phones won't work with wifi if you don't buy a data package. Are you sure? I've used my English iPhone with wifi in the US and Europe and also my American iPad with wifi in the same places

Id agree, wifi and cell are two separate items. Although cell phones might not work, wifi should be fine whatever device you have if you find a free hotspot, or pay to use the hotspot or wifi in hotels etc. When we are over in the States we tend to turn off our cellular data and just use wifi, or switch our sim to an AT&T one.

As for the cell phone part, AT&T phones should work fine in Europe (although expensive) as they use the same frequencies, but the US T-Mobile 3G uses the 1900 band and Verizon use CDMA which are not supported over here which is why Verizon offer the world phone.

Andy

 

[ukwizard]

I have another question for you - how often would they close the Eiffel Tower due to weather? I keep looking at the extended forecast for Paris and it basically SUCKS right now according to accuwweather.com which is bumming me out & making packing that much harder.

Last time we were there (earlier this year) the weather was awful and blowing a gale and they didn't close the tower, but they were only using one set of the lifts and stairs so the queues were long.

That didn't bother me as I stayed on the ground, there was no way I was going up there in that weather and the people coming down looked a little white!!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Sudden panic: are we expected to tip (room service etc - the once-off things) in Euros or in Dollars?
Or doesn't it matter?

I should think if you want to tip in cash you could probably use EITHER but whichever you use it should equal whatever the recommended guideline is in USD. Honestly I would think the easiest thing to do would be to just charge them to your onboard account. You just stop by Guest Services & they'll add them to your account and give you a slip to put into the tip envelopes. But don't wait to go down there on the LAST day - there will be a huge line. Either go down on the next to last day OR stop by at some weird hour (like 10 or 11:00 pm) to avoid waiting in a long line.

Sigh. I have been ironing & packing & weighing stuff all day in addition to what I did yesterday. I am working first on our carry-ons. I keep changing my mind on what I want in them since they're supposed to be our Paris bags and since the weather forecast is so iffy I'm just frazzled with it. You would think that if I've been at it all day I would be completely DONE by now, right? HA!! I put one thing in, take 2 things out. Put 1 more thing in & take 1 more out. Then I re-fold & roll it. Then I rearrange the cube. Then I weigh it again. OH, plus I have a LIST I am keeping of what's in them & how much each individual cube weighs. So far I've only worked on mine & DH's stuff & nothing for DS. Only 6 days left!! Once I get the clothes settled I will work on all the misc. crap (shoes, toiletries, gadgets - I have an entire page of "things" on my packing list)!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Last time we were there (earlier this year) the weather was awful and blowing a gale and they didn't close the tower, but they were only using one set of the lifts and stairs so the queues were long.

That didn't bother me as I stayed on the ground, there was no way I was going up there in that weather and the people coming down looked a little white!!!

Oh GREAT!! This will be our luck!!

 

[Anal Annie]

I hadn't even considered needing to get dollars! Just assumed because the ship was in the Med it would be euros!
Oops!

You can PROBABLY exchange some euros for USD on the ship for room service tips... But I seriously would just add the normal gratuities to my credit card / onboard account. That's the simplest thing I think.

 

[janetfk]

You are WAY ahead of me in packing!

I should think if you want to tip in cash you could probably use EITHER but whichever you use it should equal whatever the recommended guideline is in USD. Honestly I would think the easiest thing to do would be to just charge them to your onboard account. :

I really just meant for incidentals - like a room service tip. All tips for the usual crew would be on the onboard account as you described.
It's really just about whether the small change tips should be euros or dollars

 

[mikki.young]

Dollars are usual but I expect they could find somewhere to spend euros too.

Well I am off to the airport shortly for the Bermuda trip. I have made a good start on packing for the Med trip so should be able to finish when I get back Saturday.

If I miss any peeps setting off in the meantime hope to see you at the Promenade lounge!

 

[janetfk]

Dollars are usual but I expect they could find somewhere to spend euros too.

Well I am off to the airport shortly for the Bermuda trip. I have made a good start on packing for the Med trip so should be able to finish when I get back Saturday.

If I miss any peeps setting off in the meantime hope to see you at the Promenade lounge!

Have fun Mikki! Safe travels!

 

[Anal Annie]

Dollars are usual but I expect they could find somewhere to spend euros too.

Well I am off to the airport shortly for the Bermuda trip. I have made a good start on packing for the Med trip so should be able to finish when I get back Saturday.

If I miss any peeps setting off in the meantime hope to see you at the Promenade lounge!

Safe travels Mikki - Talk to ya when you get back next week!

 

[Anal Annie]

OK, fiddled around with the Mickey Med Maps again. I made one that is generic so anybody can use it.

Janet - I made a couple versions for you. I hope one or the other will be OK...

Esther, since you didn't pop back in to say what you wanted yours to say I just made one with your first names since I didn't have your family's last name...OR you can use the generic one if you don't like this one.

Again, the instructions on your end are to right click on the image and save it to your own computer as a .jpeg Then you should be able to open it & print it out. (I use a heavy card stock then get them laminated.) After you print and / or laminate them you can stick magnets on the back to use on your stateroom door. DO NOT use tape on the doors - DCL frowns on that as it can remove the paint!!

 

[SailingSeas]

I called for clarification for the different offerings for the iPhone users through AT&T, and this is what I found out:

AT&T World Traveler
99 cents per minute in France, Italy, and Spain
$5.99 per month, can be prorated. You can have a start and a stop date added by calling in.

Texting
You may receive incoming texts up to your current domestic plan's allowances, with standard incoming overage rates. Outgoing text messaging is 50 cents per text message OR an international plan for a $10 charge for 50 messages. If you exceed, each incoming text message is billed at .20 each, and outgoing is .40 each.

Data exchanges
Two options - connecting to wifi hotspots *is* free, even at Luke's friends house. If you do not want to look for a wifi hotspot, or are concerned about connection or security issues, you may also add on one of the new international data plans; 50MB for $24.99, 125MB for $49.99 or 275MB for $99.99.



iPhones receive data constantly, and international rates apply to this transfer. To end transfers internationally, be sure to go to your settings and turn OFF both data Roaming and Fetch New Data settings. If you turn on your wifi, you can still see the hotspots and go in and manually download.


I hope that this helps. When I travel in Mexico, I usually get the data plan since connectivity and security has been such an issue for me in the past. I've done a bit of research on wifi hotspots at the ports we are going to and watching the correspondence from the EU folks and thinking I may forgo the data package this time around. I have noticed that not all wifi hotspots are free. I figure I can always add it by dialing 916.846.4685 while outside of the country to reach AT&T international services and add it.

I hope that this helps the iPhone users. For more information, please see the following link:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/affordable-world-packages.jsp

 

[luke]

Two options - connecting to wifi hotspots *is* free, even at Luke's friends house.

Thought as much, seemed quite bad that you'd have to pay to use my friends wifi

 

[SailingSeas]

rofl i think i got that into my brain from my trips south. Everyone touts "wifi hotspot" and then i'd try and log in and they'd want money and it drove me nuts. If you hadn't said that, I would have just bought the data plan again. Thank you!