August 28, 2010 Pirates of the Barbary Coast - 11 nights in the Mediterranean

[eva]

Giving us a *bump* back to page one...

Morning. Not feeling too well these last few days - think I have stomach flu or something... Hope all your planning's going well, Eva! Don't know about you, but I can't believe November is almost upon us - aren't you guys going away for a weekend with Steve's company this month???

Anyway, Happy Monday...

Karen, I am so sorry that you aren't feeling well. I hope you are feeling lots better soon!

You have a good memory. Yes, we are leaving in two weeks for 5 days at Marco Island, FL. Right now Weather.com is showing 10 days from now in the mid to upper 80's and sunny. So I hope that forcast continues through the middle of November.

I plan on some major beach time over those 5 days.

I am getting myself majorly confused with flights and hotels in Barcelona. I know that it isn't popular, but Steve and I are considering a flight that comes in around 9:00 am the morning of the cruise. We did the same thing when we went to Italy last year with ABD and had no problems. We only have one layover and it has a few hours to play with if there are any delays. So we might chance it.

 

[eva]

Yikes! I am so mad at myself. Delta had been running an early bird type special on the flights I wanted. Well I procrastinated and the price has gone up over $100 per person in just the last day. Now what do I do? The price is still pretty good. So should I go ahead and purchase or wait it out and see if the prices go down again? I could just kick myself for not buying them earlier.

 

[CustardTart]

Flights and the timing of when to book are a mystery to me, Eva! I am going to have to chat with Richard about ours tonight as I've just checked out the British Airways flights we were thinking of using and there are only a few seats left per leg so decisions have to be made...

Have you decided whether to fly in on the day or not?

 

[eva]

Flights and the timing of when to book are a mystery to me, Eva! I am going to have to chat with Richard about ours tonight as I've just checked out the British Airways flights we were thinking of using and there are only a few seats left per leg so decisions have to be made...

Have you decided whether to fly in on the day or not?

That is one of the reasons why I kept putting off buying the tickets. But I think that we are going to chance coming in the day of the cruise and stay a day or two after the cruise. There are still plenty of seats. But i doubt if prices will go down much.

 

[CustardTart]

That is one of the reasons why I kept putting off buying the tickets. But I think that we are going to chance coming in the day of the cruise and stay a day or two after the cruise. There are still plenty of seats. But i doubt if prices will go down much.

I guess it would be an overnight flight coming from your side of the Atlantic? If that was the case for us from London to MCO, I'd do it...

 

[eva]

I guess it would be an overnight flight coming from your side of the Atlantic? If that was the case for us from London to MCO, I'd do it...

Since the flight gets in before 9:00 am, I think we will go for it and fly in the morning of the cruise. There are a couple of flight choices. So we are going for the earliest ones and hope the back-up flights are still open, if something goes wrong. We will take out insurance and pray. I'm not too worried about jet lag. We flew in the day of our ABD trip and didn't really have too much trouble. We just made sure that we stayed awake the first day and took melatonin each night before going to sleep. Since we will have a 5 hour layover, I am not too concerned about our luggage either. We will take a small carry on with the essentials just in case.

 

[CustardTart]

I never really suffer with jetlag - if you can sleep as much as poss on the flight it seems to be OK... We STILL can't decide what to do!!! After reading your post, we're thinking we should fly in on the day too - it makes so much sense. Can't think why we didn't think of it before...

 

[eva]

I never really suffer with jetlag - if you can sleep as much as poss on the flight it seems to be OK... We STILL can't decide what to do!!! After reading your post, we're thinking we should fly in on the day too - it makes so much sense. Can't think why we didn't think of it before...

I know that everyone warns you to come in the day before. But I am very stingy with my vacation time. And since we have to stay at least one night after the cruise, I am pretty sure we will be flying in the morning of the cruise. That way I can stick to exactly 2 weeks of vacation for the trip. Funny, I've never had a problem with jet lag going over to Europe. But sometimes I have problems coming back to the States. I can normally sleep a few hours on the way over because it is late in the day when we take off. But coming back I have a tough time sleeping on the plane and when we get home I am usually wide awake for hours. It could just be that I am totally exhausted from running around on vacation too.

 

[eva]

Well I did it! I just bought our airline tickets. They came back down in price this afternoon. So I jumped on them. I purchased the insurance too. It is now official, we are arriving the day of the cruise. Yikes! Now I am a bit nervous.

 

[CustardTart]

Love it!!! It'll add an extra frisson to the experience...

You just know that I'll do the same now! Something to do with the challenge being extended and subsequently accepted...

 

[eva]

Love it!!! It'll add an extra frisson to the experience...

You just know that I'll do the same now! Something to do with the challenge being extended and subsequently accepted...

Did I lay down the gauntlet?

It is a bit nerve-racking flying in the same day. But we did take the first flight out of Bloomington, IL. There is another flight with Delta that leaves 2 hours later for back up. It does mean a 5 hour layover. But I would rather have a back up. Actually there are a number of backups on other airlines. I have them noted and ready to use in an emergency. It does mean over 15 hours of travel. But we did the same when we went to Rome last year. Funny, we flew Delta then too.

We will be flying back on the 9th. So the night of the 8th I booked a room at the Renaissance Hotel near the airport. We will probably take a taxi to the hotel first and check-in. Then we will decide whether to hang out at the hotel for the day or grab another taxi to the downtown area for a little sightseeing. I am tempted to hang out at the hotel. I booked a concierge room with free food and drinks throughout the day. The pool looks pretty nice too. I know by that time I might need a day to relax and detox!

 

[CustardTart]

I'm sure it'll all be fine!!! I'm still undecided about what to do but haven't really had a chance to talk about it with Richard so once the soccer's finished on TV I'll ask his opinion...

Surely it can't be long now before the excursions are released? It's only 299 days until we set sail for goodness sake...

 

[eva]

I'm sure it'll all be fine!!! I'm still undecided about what to do but haven't really had a chance to talk about it with Richard so once the soccer's finished on TV I'll ask his opinion...

Surely it can't be long now before the excursions are released? It's only 299 days until we set sail for goodness sake...

Only 299 days! I must get busy planning!

Right now I am finalizing our ADR's for our trip in May. I will be making them on Tuesday. Steve has had some input, so a few things have changed. But I am sneaking in a few that he doesn't know about. He was against so many character meals and wasn't too keen on Kouzzina. So I am sneaking in character meals at Tusker House and Akershus. And I am making two ADR's for one night to see if I can sway him from Biergarten to Kouzzina. If I can't I will be sure to call and cancel.

I think this is the final plan:
Day 1 - Dinner at Teppan Edo
Day 2 - Breakfast at CRT / Dinner at 50’s Prime Time Café
Day 3 - Breakfast at Tusker House / Dinner at Narcoossee’s
Day 4 - Breakfast at Crystal Palace / Dinner at Biergarten or Kouzzina
Day 5 - Lunch at Sci-Fi Diner / Dinner at Coral Reef
Day 6 - Lunch at Akershus

I know it sounds like a lot of food. But we will likely cancel a couple when we get down there.

 

[CustardTart]

Only 299 days! I must get busy planning!

Right now I am finalizing our ADR's for our trip in May. I will be making them on Tuesday. Steve has had some input, so a few things have changed. But I am sneaking in a few that he doesn't know about. He was against so many character meals and wasn't too keen on Kouzzina. So I am sneaking in character meals at Tusker House and Akershus. And I am making two ADR's for one night to see if I can sway him from Biergarten to Kouzzina. If I can't I will be sure to call and cancel.

I think this is the final plan:
Day 1 - Dinner at Teppan Edo
Day 2 - Breakfast at CRT / Dinner at 50’s Prime Time Café
Day 3 - Breakfast at Tusker House / Dinner at Narcoossee’s
Day 4 - Breakfast at Crystal Palace / Dinner at Biergarten or Kouzzina
Day 5 - Lunch at Sci-Fi Diner / Dinner at Coral Reef
Day 6 - Lunch at Akershus

I know it sounds like a lot of food. But we will likely cancel a couple when we get down there.

We always make more ADRs than we need and end up cancelling a few... I really liked the breakfast at Tusker House. We did it on our last morning in April - yummy!!! There bread pudding was delicious... We also had a nice photo taken before being seated...

...and I love all the characters in their safari gear...

Feeling rather excited at the moment as Sophie and I are officially booked on the Inaugural Dream cruise in January 2011...

 

[eva]

We always make more ADRs than we need and end up cancelling a few... I really liked the breakfast at Tusker House. We did it on our last morning in April - yummy!!! There bread pudding was delicious... We also had a nice photo taken before being seated...

...and I love all the characters in their safari gear...

Thanks for the pictures! I will use them to talk Steve into going. Since we aren't going to Chef Mickey's this will be a good time to see Mickey and his gang. The only character we will have to hunt down is Minnie. Lexy loves her. When Lexy sees Mickey she starts looking for Minnie. I'm glad to see Daisey. We never saw her last year and I heard about it for weeks. Everytime she saw Mickey's Clubhouse on the Disney Channel she would complain that she never saw Daisey.

Feeling rather excited at the moment as Sophie and I are officially booked on the Inaugural Dream cruise in January 2011...

Oh, I am so jealous. What type of stateroom did you get?

 

[CustardTart]

...The only character we will have to hunt down is Minnie. Lexy loves her. When Lexy sees Mickey she starts looking for Minnie...

I believe she can be seen in Cape May Cafe...

OK it's official, I am a character breakfast bore!!!

We've booked #8002 which is a Cat 9A !!! With so much to discover onboard I don't think we'll be spending much time in our stateroom and I really wanted to try one with the front facing port hole... We were originally scheduled to do the PC but Sophie didn't feel she could take that much time off so this is our alternative!!!

 

[eva]

I believe she can be seen in Cape May Cafe...

OK it's official, I am a character breakfast bore!!!

I am amazed that you hit so many character breakfast. Years ago when our girls were young we hit a couple each trip. But then we had a dry spell and hadn't been to a character meal for a number of years. Of course all that has changed now that we have the grandkids.

We've booked #8002 which is a Cat 9A !!! With so much to discover onboard I don't think we'll be spending much time in our stateroom and I really wanted to try one with the front facing port hole... We were originally scheduled to do the PC but Sophie didn't feel she could take that much time off so this is our alternative!!!

I thought maybe you were going to try one of those new inside cabins with the virtual portholes. I'd be interested to see what that is all about. But I'll never get Steve to go without a verandah.

 

[eva]

Well, I got all my ADR's. I'm a bit mad at myself. I meant to set my alarm to get up at 2:00 am to make them on line. But I forgot and made them on line this morning. I had to settle for a couple times that I am not thrilled with. I was hoping for CRT around 8:00 am. But the earliest they had was 9:05 for the entire week. I love getting the earliest reservation for CRT. Last time the park was opening just as we were leaving the restaurant. I also had to take 50's Prime Time Cafe at 6:45 pm. We were hoping for 6:00 because that is EMH that night. I guess I shouldn't complain too much. Those were the only ones I had to settle on. Everything else I got within 15 minutes of my requested time.

 

[eva]

I am getting so excited about this cruise. Yesterday I was at my doctor's. He is from Syria and has traveled all over Europe, Africa, and the Middle East quite extensively. He told me that we have to see Carthage in Tunisia. He said it is fascinating. He also said to avoid the casinos in Monte Carlo and go to other places like Grasse or Cannes. He loves Barcelona and said that we should at least spend a day visiting Sagrada Familia by Antonio Gaudi, the Gaudi Gardens, and the old downtown area. Hope we have time to do that, since we will only be staying one night.

Anyone else out there going on this cruise? I keep wondering if someone has started another thread. But I have looked and can't seem to find one.

 

[CustardTart]

Well, I got all my ADR's. I'm a bit mad at myself. I meant to set my alarm to get up at 2:00 am to make them on line. But I forgot and made them on line this morning. I had to settle for a couple times that I am not thrilled with. I was hoping for CRT around 8:00 am. But the earliest they had was 9:05 for the entire week. I love getting the earliest reservation for CRT. Last time the park was opening just as we were leaving the restaurant. I also had to take 50's Prime Time Cafe at 6:45 pm. We were hoping for 6:00 because that is EMH that night. I guess I shouldn't complain too much. Those were the only ones I had to settle on. Everything else I got within 15 minutes of my requested time.

You did good!!! That's a great tip about CRT - I must remember that for next time...

I am getting so excited about this cruise. Yesterday I was at my doctor's. He is from Syria and has traveled all over Europe, Africa, and the Middle East quite extensively. He told me that we have to see Carthage in Tunisia. He said it is fascinating. He also said to avoid the casinos in Monte Carlo and go to other places like Grasse or Cannes. He loves Barcelona and said that we should at least spend a day visiting Sagrada Familia by Antonio Gaudi, the Gaudi Gardens, and the old downtown area. Hope we have time to do that, since we will only be staying one night.

When I told Richard that Carthage was potentially an excursion option, he insisted we do it!!! When we first met, we were both studying Virgil's 'Aeneid' in Latin at school. We especially loved the story of 'Dido and Aeneas' in which Dido was Queen of Carthage so it has romantic associations in his mind... Bless!!!

...Anyone else out there going on this cruise? I keep wondering if someone has started another thread. But I have looked and can't seem to find one.

Me too!!! Seems strange that there's just us keeping the thread alive!!! Even the Alaska one I'm on is more lively and that's not sailing until August 2011...

Anyway, I MUST get on!!! So much housework to do and then I have to get ready to go and see Fleetwood Mac this evening... "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow"... and all that...