Bringing Home the Magic - Part 2 - 8/18/07 - 9/01/07- list of cruisers on page 1

[kugalbelle]

Hi,
Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday.

I'm looking for luggage - are any of you familiar w/Heys Ultra Lightweight luggage? the hard case style???

DD & I went on a shopping spree yesterday - I hate to shop so hopefully got most of what I need for both this cruise & the EB Panama Canal 2008!!
We got "Crocs" for the first time - wow they really are comfy!

At Taraget we also got DGS a POTC outfit for pirates nite (for him it will the EB PC 2008) - lots of POC merchadising - lots of kids stuff!

Hi Chris,
With all the travelling we've done, we have found the following. The hard case style is not practical. They weigh on their own more that fabric style cases and if you're travelling in Europe that can make or break the airline maximum weight limits once you have them packed. Also we've had locks broken on the hard case style. Security often doesn't even check to see if it's indeed actually locked and just break the entire lock mechanism.
All our hard case style luggage are now storage cases in the basement.
We managed to get some good quality fabric style luggage sets that have 360 wheels - about 6 years ago in the UK . Was a great investment and they are looking well used but still doing their job. I think the 360 wheels or 'spinners' have eventually made their way to the USA and are now available in stores in the USA.
-Charmaine

 

[gydell]

Just returned from the eastbound trans cruise and thought I would share some info. Gilbratar really has very few cabs. They have vans that hold 7-8 people if you are touring. The cabs run to and from the city. I would recommend getting a van tour since they can pull up to the attractions. The DCL bus tours park at the bottom of the mountain and you walk up steep tiny roads that the vans and cars are driving on. The vans are lined up at the port but don't stop at the first ones since the ones at the back are cheaper. We did everything in about 5 hours and spent the afternoon in town.

In Barcelona we did the chocolate tour. Not worth the money or the time, IMHO. But if you are doing it, do it in the afternoon as most things are closed in the afternoons. If you are traveling with children I highly recommend the Children's Science museum. We stayed all afternoon, it's a hands on museum and one of the higlights of our trip. If you want to go to the top of the church, then get there early. We arrived at 10 and the line was already almost 2 hours long.

If you have questions, I will try and answer them. Hope everyone has a great cruise. I wish I was on the return cruise!

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Hello everyone - just arrived home last night after our 14-day Transatlantic Voyage. You guys are in for some FUN! We had a blast and didn't want it to end. I have Personal Navigators, menus and all the stuff if anyone wants to know anything. Two things - the water is rough in the middle of the Atlantic and do NOT rely on a credit card in Gibraltar. The music, crew, games and shows were outstanding. We enjoyed our sea days sooo much that I am jealous you guys will experience it with a different time change and hopefully calmer seas!

 

[Grandma x3]

Hi Chris,
With all the travelling we've done, we have found the following. The hard case style is not practical. They weigh on their own more that fabric style cases and if you're travelling in Europe that can make or break the airline maximum weight limits once you have them packed. Also we've had locks broken on the hard case style. Security often doesn't even check to see if it's indeed actually locked and just break the entire lock mechanism.
All our hard case style luggage are now storage cases in the basement.
We managed to get some good quality fabric style luggage sets that have 360 wheels - about 6 years ago in the UK . Was a great investment and they are looking well used but still doing their job. I think the 360 wheels or 'spinners' have eventually made their way to the USA and are now available in stores in the USA.
-Charmaine

Thanks - bought a lightweight rolling duffle.

 

[DenverVal]

Thanks for the info gydell and Hoagie Pie. I'm glad to hear it was a great cruise and we are very much looking forward to ours. I was wondering if anyone had tried the Chocolate Museum because I was debating whether to check it out or not. Did you do any of the "classes" or just tour the museum? DD 12 really wants to do it. Hmmm, maybe we'll stick with the Roman ruins and get some history and culture instead.

Were you not able to use your credit card to buy admission to the sights in Gibraltar? Do they happily accept euros? How much for a cab ride to or from the Rock?

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Thanks for the info gydell and Hoagie Pie. I'm glad to hear it was a great cruise and we are very much looking forward to ours. I was wondering if anyone had tried the Chocolate Museum because I was debating whether to check it out or not. Did you do any of the "classes" or just tour the museum? DD 12 really wants to do it. Hmmm, maybe we'll stick with the Roman ruins and get some history and culture instead.

Were you not able to use your credit card to buy admission to the sights in Gibraltar? Do they happily accept euros? How much for a cab ride to or from the Rock?

Gibraltar happily accepts Euros and will ask if you want ther bill or what you are buying in Euros or pounds, but the day we were there they were having trouble with their credit card machines - EVEN THE BANK! I was in a restaurant that had no luck with their credit card machine that day and some nice lady - an angel - was sitting next to me and paid for my family's lunch and I paid her back on the cruise. A few places we stopped to buy things told us, "we do not have an American credit card machine." I don't know what that means and I talked to several people that had the same problem. We did not take a cab to The Rock, but the cabs are CRAZY! We talked to a few people and when we compared what we got for our money, the excursion turned out for the better. The same with Seville, outstanding tour - worth all the money they charged - absolutely beautiful. If you wanted to take a cab ride there by yourself, it was close to $300!!!! The lunch in Seville was not worth it, go out on your own. You will still get your money's worth without the lunch!

 

[Grandma x3]

Gibraltar happily accepts Euros and will ask if you want ther bill or what you are buying in Euros or pounds, but the day we were there they were having trouble with their credit card machines - EVEN THE BANK! I was in a restaurant that had no luck with their credit card machine that day and some nice lady - an angel - was sitting next to me and paid for my family's lunch and I paid her back on the cruise. A few places we stopped to buy things told us, "we do not have an American credit card machine." I don't know what that means and I talked to several people that had the same problem. We did not take a cab to The Rock, but the cabs are CRAZY! We talked to a few people and when we compared what we got for our money, the excursion turned out for the better. The same with Seville, outstanding tour - worth all the money they charged - absolutely beautiful. If you wanted to take a cab ride there by yourself, it was close to $300!!!! The lunch in Seville was not worth it, go out on your own. You will still get your money's worth without the lunch!

Did you take the DCL Sevlle tour? And which tour did you take on Gibralter? Thanks so much for the info - I get excited about going all over again when I read your post!

 

[kugalbelle]

Gibraltar happily accepts Euros and will ask if you want ther bill or what you are buying in Euros or pounds, but the day we were there they were having trouble with their credit card machines - EVEN THE BANK! I was in a restaurant that had no luck with their credit card machine that day and some nice lady - an angel - was sitting next to me and paid for my family's lunch and I paid her back on the cruise. A few places we stopped to buy things told us, "we do not have an American credit card machine." I don't know what that means and I talked to several people that had the same problem. We did not take a cab to The Rock, but the cabs are CRAZY! We talked to a few people and when we compared what we got for our money, the excursion turned out for the better. The same with Seville, outstanding tour - worth all the money they charged - absolutely beautiful. If you wanted to take a cab ride there by yourself, it was close to $300!!!! The lunch in Seville was not worth it, go out on your own. You will still get your money's worth without the lunch!

I think I may know what the problem with Credit Cards could be. Europe and the UK have changed to a 'Chip and Pin' system. They have little SIM chip cards in their Credit and Bank cards - it's a visable gold card in the card itself. The cards are not swiped and are inserted into the top of the card reader and the individual then types their pin into the reader. I was in the UK last year and had similar problems with my USA cards - luckly I also have UK bank accounts and cards and I was able to use my UK card.
However we found that we could use our USA cards just be sure to tell the checkout clerk that your card is a foreign card that does not have 'chip and pin' and needs to be swiped.
-Charmaine

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Did you take the DCL Sevlle tour? And which tour did you take on Gibralter? Thanks so much for the info - I get excited about going all over again when I read your post!

Yes, we took the Disney Seville tour - it was great! It included lunch, but they tried to jam 300 people into a 200 person restaurant and my husband and I got up and left and went to a little restaurant for some Sangria and Paella, but we felt like we had gotten our money's worth. Gibraltar we took "Walking the Rock" and it was good. This was also through DCL. The Botanical Gardens in Tenerife was just okay and the Spanish Village in Barcelona was FABULOUS - I would do it again! We are so excited for you all. We just sat out by the pool reminiscing our entire cruise and all the fun things we did. There is a game show on the cruise called, "On the Nose" no one that I talked to liked it so don't rush to get there if you want to do something else. It isn't anything to write home about.

 

[gydell]

Thanks for the info gydell and Hoagie Pie. I'm glad to hear it was a great cruise and we are very much looking forward to ours. I was wondering if anyone had tried the Chocolate Museum because I was debating whether to check it out or not. Did you do any of the "classes" or just tour the museum? DD 12 really wants to do it. Hmmm, maybe we'll stick with the Roman ruins and get some history and culture instead.

Were you not able to use your credit card to buy admission to the sights in Gibraltar? Do they happily accept euros? How much for a cab ride to or from the Rock?

You go into the Chocolate factory and look at 20 some chocolate scuptures. You then go into a room where a lady tells you about how you make chocolate, she does not speak English so there is a translator. You see a chococlate bean and a pod and the inside of the pod. You are told how they get the juice out. You then go in rows to a machine where the chocolate is already made and they give you a mold that you hold under the spout and fill with chocolate. That is you making chocolate! They are put in the frig and are handed out when you leave - you don't get yours since there are no names put on them and they are put together in the frig. You are given a piece of paper and a tube of chocolate and can draw a picture if you want. We never saw where or how they make chocolate.

Our credit cards did not work in Gilbratar. The rock is Gilbratar. We paid 16 pounds each for a tour of the cave, the tunnels, the apes and the pillars of Hercules where you can see Africa. That included admissioon to everything. We had to pay for the incline to the top of the rock ourselves. They do accept Euros.

 

[DenverVal]

Thank you, this helps me out immensely!

 

[faireygod mother]

Wow, thanks so much for the info. Where did you exchange your money? Did you do it on the ship or before you boarded?

 

[gydell]

Wow, thanks so much for the info. Where did you exchange your money? Did you do it on the ship or before you boarded?

I did mine before hand but ended up having to get more changed on board.

 

[bellelinus]

Gydell, I just read a trip report from someone regarding the EB repo that was fairly negative. I know that nothing could be done about the weather or the seas, but did you find the food to be bad and housekeeping services to be terrible as that trip report suggested? I know that people can go on the same cruise and have vastly different experiences, but that trip report was surprising.

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Wow, thanks so much for the info. Where did you exchange your money? Did you do it on the ship or before you boarded?

I also suffer from the same disease as you and yes, I exchanged money over here, but thanks to Gibraltar, I did it on the ship as well. I have not read the trip report yet, but we had a fabulous experience. I don't blame Disney or the Captain for the bad weather. I use to work in the hospitality industry and I hated to hear comments about that. The food was great and our housekeeping was wonderful, but I did hear one person complain that the host of their room had no idea what he was doing. Disney usually fixes those things pretty fast, but hey, you cannot please everyone all of the time. It was a tough bunch of people. That was my 5th cruise and it had the least amount of children and the most over "50" crowd I have seen. I will have to read the trip report.

 

[faireygod mother]

Do you know if you can use your onboard credit when you exchange money on the ship?

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Do you know if you can use your onboard credit when you exchange money on the ship?

No, I even tried to use my "Key to the World Card" - no luck! Cash is the ONLY thing they would take.

 

[ejw]

we are thinking about downgrading to a cat 12 gty. the price is great and would save us over $2,000. we currently have a SPH room. has anyone on this cruise done this and have you gotten your new cabin yet? wondering if disney is upgrading when assigning the new cabin.

thanks, ellen

 

[gismo1554]

Yes, we took the Disney Seville tour - it was great! It included lunch, but they tried to jam 300 people into a 200 person restaurant and my husband and I got up and left and went to a little restaurant for some Sangria and Paella, but we felt like we had gotten our money's worth. Gibraltar we took "Walking the Rock" and it was good. This was also through DCL. The Botanical Gardens in Tenerife was just okay and the Spanish Village in Barcelona was FABULOUS - I would do it again! We are so excited for you all. We just sat out by the pool reminiscing our entire cruise and all the fun things we did. There is a game show on the cruise called, "On the Nose" no one that I talked to liked it so don't rush to get there if you want to do something else. It isn't anything to write home about.

OK can I just say I liked On the Nose! It was fun! Also if you have kids and win they get a fantastic surprise!!! The prize is brilliant for kids and us adults that haven't grown up yet.

 

[gismo1554]

Gydell, I just read a trip report from someone regarding the EB repo that was fairly negative. I know that nothing could be done about the weather or the seas, but did you find the food to be bad and housekeeping services to be terrible as that trip report suggested? I know that people can go on the same cruise and have vastly different experiences, but that trip report was surprising.

Personally the weather wasnt an issue for me. The service was fantastic. The entertainment was brilliant and the food was amasing. I didn't find anything I didn't like except being off the ship. I think its just a very different experience to the Caribbean cruises. I loved it! There was so much to do and so many new experiences.