August 7th, 2010 Mediterranean Cruise

[LisaWalkerC21]

Hi Gang -

Curious who is doing early or late dining? We chose early dining...hoping I don't feel too rushed, but I can't imagine eating late since we are early eaters.

I am on the hunt for a new formal night dress. Tried on my dress yesterday, and not lovin' it. I am on the hunt...Of course I am adding things to my to-do list instead of crossing them off Two steps forward...two steps back. On the flip side I found my DH comfy shoes today, so I guess that's progress. I wish I had a personal shopper like him

 

[abayaflowers]

Hi Gang -

Curious who is doing early or late dining? We chose early dining...hoping I don't feel too rushed, but I can't imagine eating late since we are early eaters.

I am on the hunt for a new formal night dress. Tried on my dress yesterday, and not lovin' it. I am on the hunt...Of course I am adding things to my to-do list instead of crossing them off Two steps forward...two steps back. On the flip side I found my DH comfy shoes today, so I guess that's progress. I wish I had a personal shopper like him

Hi! We have late dining. We tried early dining in our previous cruise. We wanted to try something different. How many dresses are you planning to bring? Just trying to get an idea of how many to pack... one semi-formal night and one formal night, right?

I still need to find shoes for myself. I don't like wearing tennis shoes only for working out. I am trying to find some comfy and hip naturalizer shoes or some cute Aerosoles. I have not been lucky.

I just pick up our "travel medication". FYI: if any cruisers find that their medication will need a refill during their vacation, I highly recommend getting a travel waiver to get an early refill That's what we did and the insurance company will need to know when you are leaving and when you are returning.

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

Hi! We have late dining. We tried early dining in our previous cruise. We wanted to try something different. How many dresses are you planning to bring? Just trying to get an idea of how many to pack... one semi-formal night and one formal night, right?

I still need to find shoes for myself. I don't like wearing tennis shoes only for working out. I am trying to find some comfy and hip naturalizer shoes or some cute Aerosoles. I have not been lucky.

I just pick up our "travel medication". FYI: if any cruisers find that their medication will need a refill during their vacation, I highly recommend getting a travel waiver to get an early refill That's what we did and the insurance company will need to know when you are leaving and when you are returning.

I have a dress for formal night, semi-formal night and our Palo dinner. I also have a few sundresses that I plan on throwing into the mix too. It is going to be so hot that I want to be as comfortable as possible. That is why I am having second thoughts on the formal night dress - the material is a little thicker and not as comfortable...ugh!

Side note: Temps have been 100 degrees in Italy! My Mom just got back from Italy today. I can't wait to hear all about it!!

As for shoes, I am a flip flop girl and have all kinds! Though, for excursions I bought a pair of Merrell sandals that I love because they even look decent with a sundress. Decided that the chance of me seeing the inside of the gym were low, so no room for sneakers

 

[mermster]

Hi! We have late dining. We tried early dining in our previous cruise. We wanted to try something different. How many dresses are you planning to bring? Just trying to get an idea of how many to pack... one semi-formal night and one formal night, right?

I still need to find shoes for myself. I don't like wearing tennis shoes only for working out. I am trying to find some comfy and hip naturalizer shoes or some cute Aerosoles. I have not been lucky.

I just pick up our "travel medication". FYI: if any cruisers find that their medication will need a refill during their vacation, I highly recommend getting a travel waiver to get an early refill That's what we did and the insurance company will need to know when you are leaving and when you are returning.

We have early dining - worried that we'll feel rushed at a couple of the ports, but can't imagine eating later, as we normally eat pretty early.
I'm bringing dresses for formal and semi formal plus a bunch of sundresses for ports and/or dinner - comfy and cool!
As for shoes, I love my Clarks. They are super comfortable and still at least somewhat cute-ish
Thanks for the reminder about meds - that's still on my to do list.

 

[abayaflowers]

I have a dress for formal night, semi-formal night and our Palo dinner. I also have a few sundresses that I plan on throwing into the mix too. It is going to be so hot that I want to be as comfortable as possible. That is why I am having second thoughts on the formal night dress - the material is a little thicker and not as comfortable...ugh!

Side note: Temps have been 100 degrees in Italy! My Mom just got back from Italy today. I can't wait to hear all about it!!

As for shoes, I am a flip flop girl and have all kinds! Though, for excursions I bought a pair of Merrell sandals that I love because they even look decent with a sundress. Decided that the chance of me seeing the inside of the gym were low, so no room for sneakers

Thanks for the valuable information. I have started shopping for sundresses especially light ones. I better go through my closet for the lightest and thinest one. I don't getting too hot, because it affects my eczema. Thanks again!

 

[xsjackson]

wow everyone has been busy tonight. Husband is out of town and my 17 yr old is on the computer so I volunteered to work the weekend shift at the scrap store. Open to close Friday, Sat. and Sun. - more cash for the trip.

Thanks for the movie list. I want to see Toy Story 3 and my husband and High school senior wouldnt go with me. Hopefuly I can con my sister's kids into an outing.

I am bringing a bunch of skirts and sun dresses - hopefully t will do for all. My son's new kitten keeps walking on the keyboard.

We have cat 10 connecting rooms too! Laundry basket, mmmm, good idea. I will pass it on to my sister since I dont have a walgreens/walmart anywhere near me.

wow so much to think about tonight

 

[pennymike]

Love all the tips, thanks, all!

*** Good to know about the movies......surprised no Sorcerer...??

*** Hamper....good idea. We usually just tuck dirty laundry into the empty suitcase tucked into the closet. Out of sight out of mind!

*** My new kitten has a thing for keyboards, too.

*** SHOES: I'm an addict, so this is a tough 'pare down' item for me. Running shoes, flip flops for pool, try to get my one pair of "Think" sandals to work with dressy AND more casual dinner outifts, and working on which Keen sandals will be good walking on excursions while coordinating with variety of outfits.

*** Dinner outfits: Trying to coordinate crops that I can dress up for casual dinners, then wear for excursions where I need to be covered below the knees for the cathedrals. For dressy, I have the obligatory little black dress, then skirt/blouse type outfits.

SO many things to think about. LOVING IT!!!!!

Keep smiling, all! See you soon!

 

[armyferret]

.


I feel you on the stressing out. I still haven't finalized

what we're doing at all of the ports.

I called DCL this evening and they had a cat 6gty available for us for only $800 more. That's coming from a cat 11 gty. Pretty affordable! Gotta love the military discount. But alas we decided against it. My mom is traveling with us and our kids are going to be in her room, we ended up getting connectiong cat 10's so we figured we better not mess with it. This way if our ds 4 wants to come sleep with mom and dad at night he can come right through the door.
Have a MAGICal day all

I am jealous! even that that they had the opportunity! when i called there was nothing, and all the lady said was "but you know, we have already upgraded you from a cat 11 to a cat 10" - woo. the half bathroom is SO not a biggy - but i guess a little pixie dust is better than none at all - i may call again and see if there is anything today..

 

[Melcatfish]

Hi Gang -

Curious who is doing early or late dining? We chose early dining...hoping I don't feel too rushed, but I can't imagine eating late since we are early eaters.

I am on the hunt for a new formal night dress. Tried on my dress yesterday, and not lovin' it. I am on the hunt...Of course I am adding things to my to-do list instead of crossing them off Two steps forward...two steps back. On the flip side I found my DH comfy shoes today, so I guess that's progress. I wish I had a personal shopper like him

We have early seating. As we have little ones with us and are not planning any long excursions i am sure it will be fine.

I lucked out and found two new dresses in one short shopping trip a couple of weeks ago. As we are doing back to back they will have to do for both sets of dinners, plus I have a black dress which will make 3 fancier dresses to use in formal, semi formal and Palo. Pics of my two new dresses are in my trip report (link in my signature)

So not sorted with the shoes though!

Mel
x

 

[makaylee]

Where is a good place to pick up laundry detergent in Barcelona? I need to get some detergent that is perfume-free and dye-free.

This will be my first trip to Barcelona, sorry. You might just want to find a place in your suitcase for some powdered detergent.

 

[makaylee]

Hi Gang -

Curious who is doing early or late dining? We chose early dining...hoping I don't feel too rushed, but I can't imagine eating late since we are early eaters.

I am on the hunt for a new formal night dress. Tried on my dress yesterday, and not lovin' it. I am on the hunt...Of course I am adding things to my to-do list instead of crossing them off Two steps forward...two steps back. On the flip side I found my DH comfy shoes today, so I guess that's progress. I wish I had a personal shopper like him

LOL! My DH enjoys his "personal Shopper" also. He just came in the room modeling one of the new shirts I bought him as I was reading your post. lol

I still need my formal gown also. For semi formal and Palo I'm just wearing my dresses from last time.

We opted for late seating in case we want to stay in any of the ports late and we'd rather miss a show than dinner. Plus there's always lots of other yummy stuff to eat before dinner if we get hungry. Being as we already live in England right now there's really no time change for us also.

Keep plugging away at that list, you'll get there. We all will

 

[makaylee]

I am jealous! even that that they had the opportunity! when i called there was nothing, and all the lady said was "but you know, we have already upgraded you from a cat 11 to a cat 10" - woo. the half bathroom is SO not a biggy - but i guess a little pixie dust is better than none at all - i may call again and see if there is anything today..

Definitely keep trying back because like I said, I tried once and they didn't have anything...tried later on and they had one. $2300 for 2 people in a cat 6 instead of $9700 because of the mil discount, amazing! I just don't want to lose our connecting.

 

[dustermom02]

I was just catching up and had a couple comments to make but my cutting and pasting didn't work so I'm just going to type since I only have a couple minutes.

Someone asked about the laundry detergent. In order to use your detergent you can get a cheap pack of washcloths put the measured amount of detergent on each one and put in separate zip-lock bags. When you do your wash just throw one in with each load.

You all are making me nervous about dressing up. I'm just bringing my sundresses and trying to dress them up with jewelry. Nothing I have is really 'formal' or 'semi-formal' because I'm so worried about the space. I'm trying to make sure I can wear things multiple times. I already pulled the black dress out because I couldn't wear it more than once. We're planning 2 checked bags and 1 carry on b/c dh and I are worried that we'll each need a suit case in one hand and a small child in the other hand. The oldest is on her own with her suitcase.

And about dinner seatings. We're early. My MIL was really worried about this and did research about the prior Med cruises and the verdict was even if your tour gets back a little late, just go to dinner. They'll let your servers know if your tour is late. Some people were getting back late and then trying to go to the late seating when they had early seating that that was getting things mixed up.

I exchanged some Euros on Friday and picked up travel pillows and blankets. They're a bit bigger than I was expecting. But that's 2 more things to cross off the list.

I can NOT believe the ticker says 3 weeks! Unreal!!

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

I was just catching up and had a couple comments to make but my cutting and pasting didn't work so I'm just going to type since I only have a couple minutes.

Someone asked about the laundry detergent. In order to use your detergent you can get a cheap pack of washcloths put the measured amount of detergent on each one and put in separate zip-lock bags. When you do your wash just throw one in with each load.

You all are making me nervous about dressing up. I'm just bringing my sundresses and trying to dress them up with jewelry. Nothing I have is really 'formal' or 'semi-formal' because I'm so worried about the space. I'm trying to make sure I can wear things multiple times. I already pulled the black dress out because I couldn't wear it more than once. We're planning 2 checked bags and 1 carry on b/c dh and I are worried that we'll each need a suit case in one hand and a small child in the other hand. The oldest is on her own with her suitcase.

And about dinner seatings. We're early. My MIL was really worried about this and did research about the prior Med cruises and the verdict was even if your tour gets back a little late, just go to dinner. They'll let your servers know if your tour is late. Some people were getting back late and then trying to go to the late seating when they had early seating that that was getting things mixed up.

I exchanged some Euros on Friday and picked up travel pillows and blankets. They're a bit bigger than I was expecting. But that's 2 more things to cross off the list.

I can NOT believe the ticker says 3 weeks! Unreal!!

Don't worry about dressing up or not...you are on vacation and can do what is best for you My DH and I rarely go out and I never get a chance to dress up so I am taking advantage of the opportunity. I am a little nervous about the fact that we are taking 4 carry on suitcases because our first connecting flight stops at about Midnight (our time) and we will most likely be "trying" to wake up the boys to walk through the airport, etc... Should be interesting. Two of our carryon's actually transform into backpacks - so that will be plan B if we end up carrying kids. I better get back to the gym and start lifting weights

I heard the same thing about the early sitting being able to go late, so I figure we will make it work on the days we might not get there right on time.

I can't believe the ticker says 3 weeks either...we are in the home stretch now everyone

 

[pennymike]

RE: Dressing up concerns: One thing I've noticed and loved about DCL is that it is acceptable to be comfortable.....no need to be stuffy....even on Formal night. I would not worry, as long as you are dressed 'neatly', I wouldn't fret over not having sequins!

RE: Early seating: My DH and I tried to do early seating once, thinking it would avoid being so tired and full afterwards, with no energy to go "play" after. Unfortunately, the result was we were STILL tired and full, just earlier in the evening! We usually eat closer to 8 pm anyway, so we stick with late. However......we did discover that Topsiders serves sit down/table service some nights with the same menu anyway, so if you are running late or just don't wish to get dressed up, yet want table service, check the schedule for dinner in the Navigator, and that may be an easier option than rushing to get dolled up after a long day. I'm sure we'll be doing that, given the long trip and many long days. Just a few thoughts!

 

[Allesma]

RE: Dressing up concerns: One thing I've noticed and loved about DCL is that it is acceptable to be comfortable.....no need to be stuffy....even on Formal night. I would not worry, as long as you are dressed 'neatly', I wouldn't fret over not having sequins!

RE: Early seating: My DH and I tried to do early seating once, thinking it would avoid being so tired and full afterwards, with no energy to go "play" after. Unfortunately, the result was we were STILL tired and full, just earlier in the evening! We usually eat closer to 8 pm anyway, so we stick with late. However......we did discover that Topsiders serves sit down/table service some nights with the same menu anyway, so if you are running late or just don't wish to get dressed up, yet want table service, check the schedule for dinner in the Navigator, and that may be an easier option than rushing to get dolled up after a long day. I'm sure we'll be doing that, given the long trip and many long days. Just a few thoughts!

We also opt for the late dining, because we then can see the shows together as a family wen the kids want to eat in ther clubs. Sometimes we do Topsiders or on a very lazy day we order roomservice and watch a film or the show in the room. As a family we sometimes need some downtime from the bussy dingrooms and the roomservice can be a livesaver to get the cranky kids some rest. I also order a pot of coffee/some juice and milk and cookies and some fruit in the evening and coffee in the morning. Feels so good to be pamperderd during those twelve days!

 

[gusdmh]

Anyone getting any luck with airfare to Spain? I'm thinking about going next year but the fares are so expensive. My co-worker is going next week. He mentioned the rumors of the euros coming down due to the economy which may help the dollar. Any suggestions, advice, experience, etc.?

 

[GW45]

Hi Cruisers,

Only came across this thread today....in fact tried to read it from the beginning but had to occasionally feed hungry children, stretch my legs etc so had to skip big chunks of it. You are all amazing ......the amount of planning and preparations you've already done!! Ive done so little because I felt, hey...we've been on a DCL cruise before, we know what goes on, we just need to start booking a few trips for the days in port, no big deal. We booked the cruise in January ( I know-practically last minute!!!) and the flights to Barcelona in April (we're from Ireland so they were short haul flights) forgot that this time we had a chance to book things early and only did that in the middle of May (hence not a great choice and no brunch in Palo) but nothing else until last week. We booked the DCL excursions to Pompeii and Sorrento, and the Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo trip and nothing else.......Yesterday I decided to start investigating doing other trips on our own, found the Cruise Critic forum, then got directed to this board and this morning found this thread for our cruise.........WOW feeling a bit overwhelmed!! Haven't thought about clothes or packing and it looks like things have changed since we did our one and only cruise four years ago to the Bahamas on the Wonder.......when did all this magnet craze begin?Need to buy some as if my ds10 and dd5 see that we are the only ones with a boring door they won't be happy. I never saw such things as Fish extenders before but looks like we're too late for that anyway. I noticed some of you mentioning lanyards - what are they??

So, feeling like a complete cruise novice all over again! Looking forward to rediscovering it all though!

Siobhan.

 

[xsjackson]

Hi Cruisers,

Only came across this thread today....in fact tried to read it from the beginning but had to occasionally feed hungry children, stretch my legs etc so had to skip big chunks of it. You are all amazing ......the amount of planning and preparations you've already done!! Ive done so little because I felt, hey...we've been on a DCL cruise before, we know what goes on, we just need to start booking a few trips for the days in port, no big deal. We booked the cruise in January ( I know-practically last minute!!!) and the flights to Barcelona in April (we're from Ireland so they were short haul flights) forgot that this time we had a chance to book things early and only did that in the middle of May (hence not a great choice and no brunch in Palo) but nothing else until last week. We booked the DCL excursions to Pompeii and Sorrento, and the Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo trip and nothing else.......Yesterday I decided to start investigating doing other trips on our own, found the Cruise Critic forum, then got directed to this board and this morning found this thread for our cruise.........WOW feeling a bit overwhelmed!! Haven't thought about clothes or packing and it looks like things have changed since we did our one and only cruise four years ago to the Bahamas on the Wonder.......when did all this magnet craze begin?Need to buy some as if my ds10 and dd5 see that we are the only ones with a boring door they won't be happy. I never saw such things as Fish extenders before but looks like we're too late for that anyway. I noticed some of you mentioning lanyards - what are they??

So, feeling like a complete cruise novice all over again! Looking forward to rediscovering it all though!

Siobhan.

Don't worry my first cruise was on a 3 day Wonder cruise too and my husband and I were hooked.


My sister and her son are also doing that Sorrento/Pompeii excusion too. I have actually done it twice before on other tours and cruiselines. The mozzarella making is soo cool and lunch is yummy. I love walking through Sorrento and seeing Pompeii.

I can't wait to pack - but Im holding off until the week before I leave for the east coast just in case. So packing is the last week of July!

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

Hi Cruisers,

Only came across this thread today....in fact tried to read it from the beginning but had to occasionally feed hungry children, stretch my legs etc so had to skip big chunks of it. You are all amazing ......the amount of planning and preparations you've already done!! Ive done so little because I felt, hey...we've been on a DCL cruise before, we know what goes on, we just need to start booking a few trips for the days in port, no big deal. We booked the cruise in January ( I know-practically last minute!!!) and the flights to Barcelona in April (we're from Ireland so they were short haul flights) forgot that this time we had a chance to book things early and only did that in the middle of May (hence not a great choice and no brunch in Palo) but nothing else until last week. We booked the DCL excursions to Pompeii and Sorrento, and the Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo trip and nothing else.......Yesterday I decided to start investigating doing other trips on our own, found the Cruise Critic forum, then got directed to this board and this morning found this thread for our cruise.........WOW feeling a bit overwhelmed!! Haven't thought about clothes or packing and it looks like things have changed since we did our one and only cruise four years ago to the Bahamas on the Wonder.......when did all this magnet craze begin?Need to buy some as if my ds10 and dd5 see that we are the only ones with a boring door they won't be happy. I never saw such things as Fish extenders before but looks like we're too late for that anyway. I noticed some of you mentioning lanyards - what are they??

So, feeling like a complete cruise novice all over again! Looking forward to rediscovering it all though!

Siobhan.

Welcome Aboard Glad you found us! Lanyards are the holders you were around your neck that hold your cruise card. A few pages back I included a graphic that you can customize to slip into the plastic sleeve. This will help others in our group recognize you. Also, we have organized a Meet and Greet for the first day at 2:30pm at the Goofy Pool. A great way for adults and kids to meet each other. Hope you can join us!!