Bound for Barcelona - April 10, 2010 EB TA - Part 4

[kileybeth]

My only advice is to breath. Take deep cleasing breaths. Trust me I have had to do this for the past couple of days. Just remember. One week from now we will be pulling out of the port...

MJ, your post reads like I feel.
Guess everyone is really having to buckle down and take on all the task we've been putting off now

Am realizing how many lbs all the little stuff that I usually pack last minute amounts to. What is all this junk? oiy!

Always suprised me how much comes up last minute to deal with. Life just keeps happening! Imagine that!

Trying to figure out how many tshirts for under dress shirts to pack for the DH, what kind of game is this? Who knows really?

Still have to do the big grocery shop for the kids before I go, find them each some cash and remember to leave them my BJ's and Costco cards. Remember to leave them the ships emergency contact number. Dropped off library stuff today.

Ended up puchasing a new garment bag that is completely soft sided and weighs much less. Feeling better about that unless you ask me the price and then I am feeling a little bit sick about that.

Bought another pair of sandals today, not sure why except they were purple and they somehow entered my cart unbidden

Everyone in the house is over colds and feeling well except for my backpain which stinks but once I am done all the packing, I can relax it for a week or two until I have to get it all back off the ship again right

Back to the grind, just checking in to make sure we hadn't had any last minute cancellations or mishaps. May everyone stay safe and healthy and have special burst of energy and strength to finish out this week.

 

[disdel]

Thanks for tip about Bed Bath & Beyond. I know Macy's also has one for $25. I wanted to get one from LL Bean but I waited too long. I work til 3pm...lots of errands to run after!!!

Do you have a BJ's Warehouse nearby? They have a luggage scale with measuring tape for $4.99 - I've given away several, 'cause they're so handy. I leave it in the outer pocket of my luggage.

Tried skimming the last few pages. I've been out of touch due to work and life. Here's a tidbit .......>..>.......>....>....

Today my drama is about mouth wash. We usually don't pack it because it weighs too much. So we usually stop and buy it on our way to the port. Of course usually we fly in the night before and usually have a rental car. But instead we are flying in the day of and taking the magical express. So maybe I should just pack it.

Once I get on the boat. I'll be calm. I promise!!

MJ, we're definitly doing a WalMart stop. If you want, we can pick it up if you tell me the type and quantity, no problem. Tell me asap, we're leaving early Tuesday.

I asked DH to get the clothes out of the dryer, he called from the basement to say they were still wet, when I went down to check I found out he was looking at the washer. So it's fair to say he will not be doing any laundry while we are away.

Hi fellow Disney FAN-atics!
My husband and I are sailing on 4/10 and looking forward to meeting other cruisers. I realize we are too late to get in on all of the fun you have planned and hope to meet up with you anyhow! We live near Tampa FL (relocated from NJ) and are DVC members practically since it opened. My friends & neighbors think that I am always at WDW but I tell them that I was not there in April 09 at all!!
Looking forward to a great time and hopefully making lots of new Disney friends.

Kathy & Lou

Welcome, Kathy & Lou. Hope to meet up with you as well. We're still in NJ after moving from NYC, and should've been in FL way before now. But, it's getting close, so hope to chat with you about that.

 

[kileybeth]

I agree - 7 kids - do you have time to breathe?
A friend has 5 kids (blended family) - 2 18 year olds, 2 17 year olds and an almost 14 year old. But they are a good bunch of kids.

I got my tiara at Walmart.

Kristi

Oh dear no!! That's grlzmom who has 7 kiddos! I just have 7 living under my roof right now which includes the DH and I!

We do have 6 kids but they are not all at home. In fact #2 (DS22)just came home from Hungary 2 weekends ago and will be back out again by fall if all goes as planned. Although, there are 6 of them total and they are all ours. The last four (DS's 17&7 and DD's15&5) are all still at home and yes, a great bunch of kids for sure.

 

[FLACRUISER]

Just saying hello. Jim & Norma Jean who have over 60 cruises and many TA's will be taking our 1st Disney cruise next week.

 

[kileybeth]

[/COLOR]

I am starting to think that phrase is an oxymoran for sure!

off the computer now really!!

 

[ibouncetoo]

Welcome Kathy & Lou and Jim & Norma Jean


Was in and out of Bed Bath & Beyond in like 4 minutes. Got the scale a TSA lock AND a lime green luggage tag with a big, black "J" on it!

The book store took a little longer, (but not as long as usual he he he). I picked up one book just for the knitting crowd...chick lit about a knitting group! They also had a small book about Barcelona that I will look through and bring along. And a Clive Cussler novel that's set in the American West in 1906 "The Chase". I thought the male cast members would enjoy that!

Nice lunch at Olive Garden then no luck on the clothing shopping. Got a pedicure (OPI Cajun Shrimp) and will spend the evening sorting though the 'cruise pile'. Oh, and there is a DQ Blizzard (mint M&M) 'hardening' in the freezer for later.

Think I'll follow Monica's lead and divvy up my pounds and euros into individual envelopes for the various days and activities.

A good day.

 

[auntlynne]

Just saying hello. Jim & Norma Jean who have over 60 cruises and many TA's will be taking our 1st Disney cruise next week.

Hi fellow Disney FAN-atics!
My husband and I are sailing on 4/10 and looking forward to meeting other cruisers. ...
Kathy & Lou

Jim & Norma Jean: Saw your names on the Master Spreadsheet a while ago - I've got your nametags in the stack already. Glad to see you pop in your head - let's see you do that again at 3:00 April 10 in the Promenade Lounge.

Kathy & Lou - I haven't finished with the nametags, so I'll type in your names and - voila! - you'll be recognized by hundreds of people while onboard Come meet us in the Terminal or the 3:00 Meet & Greet (or both ).

Post 1 and the external website might help you (address in my signature)

- Lynne

 

[bound2travel]

Too far behind on the thread to catch up.

Had two days in Disney this week was fun. Great weather.

Safe/happy travels to all who are getting ready to depart.

Still not packed, but did get euros and most paperwork together.

Our prescription company is giving us a hard time with getting a month worth of meds to take (we are on both cruises). Since it is like a 30 day issue thing and our 30 day mark comes up in a week they can't do it Yes, we could buy the meds and probably will have to but dd meds are so expensive (no generics) and we are looking at about 1k out of pocket to make sure meds are covered for the month. Not making me a happy camper.

Happy weekend to everyone!

I can't believe they are giving you a hard time about the meds! I went to Walgreens this morning to explain that I will run out of three of mine while on the trip, but it's too early to fill. They sent a "vacation override" request to Aetna and I pick them up tomorrow! I would have been satisfied with a partial to get me back home, but very pleased Aetna is being nice to me - especially since two of them are blood pressure meds.

Hope it turns out that they relent and let you get the meds.

Kristi

 

[bound2travel]

I'm not 100% sure but I think as long as your phone is 3G then you can get an international plan. Your best bet is to ask the verizon guy. I'm telling everyone to email me since I will have my laptop with me and not to depend on me being able to pick up messages or return calls. This is the probem with technology now is that people expect you to be in touch 24/7 even on vacation.

I was at Verizon today. You have to have a phone that has global capability (mine is not). You can call Verizon to have them activate it for use in other countries. Think there is a 4.99 fee for the month. Then you will pay for whatever minutes you use - look on the Verizon site and you can find the prices there for each country.

Kristi

 

[bound2travel]

For those that asked I was told the pool closes at dusk- which probably means around 8. I know that 6 oclock was mentioned as a start time but is anyone there that early? IF anyone needs a ride to get something we would be happy to take you. We should be there for 6 . If anyone wants us to pick up something for them PM me and we will bring it with us to the hotel.

We are pretty much packed but there is no way I could go 25 days with one suitcase. I guess we are going to have to bite the bullet and pay Delta for the extra bags. I am not a happy camper.

We usually go back to CT in April but since we are going on these curises we will be here until the end of May. This is the first time we will be away from our daughters and grandchildren for a holiday. I was kind of down yesterday thinking about it, but we have wonderful friends here that we invited over for Easter dinner. So I will be cooking for 8 people and then using Skype to see the grandchildren open their Easter things.
Could we use Skype on the cruise ship?

Hope everyone has a nice holiday and now the big countdown begins.

I will be at the hotel most of the day as I have Friday off and will be driving down that morning. My friend, who will be taking my car back home, and I plan on spending time at the pool during the day. Not really planned much beyond that.

It is hard to be away from family for holidays, but having great friends really does help. I have had Christmas dinner with my friend and her family for the past three years. I've become "part of the family". It helps.

Kristi

 

[mdvasquez]

I havent been on this thread in over a week and boy oh boy, there was a ton of pages to catch up on. My DH flew home from Iraq on Saturday.
However, on a sad note, my family could use ALL of your prayers.
We have had a major issue with my 20 year old DS and at this time he is in the Behavioral Center at our local hospital.
I am having a hard time with the fact that we are leaving in a week, and not knowing what is going to happen with my DS.

 

[Brooklyn]

As promised here is a picture of what the message board on Stateroom 7542 will look like....

Original plan was to use an 11x11 board but decided to use an 11x17 board instead. This was there is plenty of room for lots of messages.

 

[annekevdbroek]

Checking in and having a hard time keeping up with the rapid pace of postings.

Started packing today. I've had the suitcases and carry-on bags out for a week or so and have just been lobbing stuff in their general direction. Today I actually started to organize. I find it so hard to pack for this kind of weather - like shorts vs. pants and how many pairs. I want to pack very very light and formal night and Palo are throwing a wrench in our works. I did mail a box ahead with our FE stuff and diapers and I plan to mail stuff home to decrease our inbound luggage during our week in Spain.

I am curious how the gym on the boat is? I love working out and I am actually looking forward to getting to go to the gym daily - curious about how it is set up and such. I tend to like the eliptical and room to stretch.

 

[slcmom]

I havent been on this thread in over a week and boy oh boy, there was a ton of pages to catch up on. My DH flew home from Iraq on Saturday.
However, on a sad note, my family could use ALL of your prayers.
We have had a major issue with my 20 year old DS and at this time he is in the Behavioral Center at our local hospital.
I am having a hard time with the fact that we are leaving in a week, and not knowing what is going to happen with my DS.

Hey Dena. I'm truly sorry to hear about problems with your ds. They will take very good care of him while you're gone. If it helps any, among my 6 kids we have had 2 long-term stays in pediatric psychiatric wards, plus adolescent suicide attempts from 2 ds's, and (most recently) a drug habit which that ds has finally gotten on top of (clean 16 months!), although it took inpatient treatment for him to detox.

The wonderful thing is that your ds is now somewhere that they can help him put things back together. That's a great blessing. In spite of their checkered mental-health pasts, all my ds's and dd are now well and productive. Have a good Easter,
Ann

 

[thossink]

What a weekend, The boss closed the office early Friday soooooooo we took a quick trip to the Alpaca show in Fort Wayne, Just got back and I can not believe how far behind in posts I am. I also can not believe we took off for a weekend this close to the trip.

See ya all Soon

 

[Missymowse]

Oh dear no!! That's grlzmom who has 7 kiddos! I just have 7 living under my roof right now which includes the DH and I!

8 under mine right now because my DD lives with me and my (D?)Bil is staying here to "Pa"sit while we are away.
I have so muchg to do but in the relativeness of it all I cannot wait for Friday at 11am!!

 

[auntlynne]

As promised here is a picture of what the message board on Stateroom 7542 will look like....

I don't believe that is how the message board will look like - there are no magnets crowding in on it.

...I am curious how the gym on the boat is? I love working out and I am actually looking forward to getting to go to the gym daily - curious about how it is set up and such. I tend to like the eliptical and room to stretch.

They've got the cardio machines (bikes, treadmills - someone else will speak to the presence of ellipticals, although I think they are there) facing the semi-circle of windows.

The weight machines (just like the ones at our local YMCA - not Nautilus, Life something - I'm having brain lapses here) are in the middle of the room. They've also got Spinner spin cycles. There is probably enough room for stretching, as this facility is commonly underutilized.

 

[ibouncetoo]

as promised here is a picture of what the message board on stateroom 7542 will look like....

original plan was to use an 11x11 board but decided to use an 11x17 board instead. This was there is plenty of room for lots of messages.

most excellent!

.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Hi fellow Disney FAN-atics!
My husband and I are sailing on 4/10 and looking forward to meeting other cruisers. I realize we are too late to get in on all of the fun you have planned and hope to meet up with you anyhow! We live near Tampa FL (relocated from NJ) and are DVC members practically since it opened. My friends & neighbors think that I am always at WDW but I tell them that I was not there in April 09 at all!!
Looking forward to a great time and hopefully making lots of new Disney friends.

Kathy & Lou

Hi Kathy & Lou, we are from Sarasota so we're not too far from you! What a coincidence, we met a NJ transplant couple who lives in Tampa on our last cruise that went to Barcelona....small world

Just saying hello. Jim & Norma Jean who have over 60 cruises and many TA's will be taking our 1st Disney cruise next week.

Welcome Jim & Norma Jean! We have also done a lot of cruising (not nearly 60 though!) but no disney cruises....it is our first as well. Based on the amount of past passengers who come back to disney, I dont' think we'll be diappointed!!

 

[goofprincess]

42 pounds for my main one. I'm carrying another medium size almost empty for "stuff" to bring home.

Thats totally what my DH is doing; great minds think alike. See ya soon.