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

[ejw]

I am nervous more for myself as DH enjoys the movies and TV.



I was hoping the same for my DGD. She will be 11. Maybe we can plan a small meet before the muster drill or even later that evening. We have early dining so we would have to take that into consideration as well that others may have late dining. Let me know what plans you would like to make.

Hi Dee, Melanie will be almost 11 when we cruise. Would like to get the girls together. we are also doing early dining. right now not sure when a good time will be. let's make plans when we get closer...maybe others with daughters would like to be a part of this. ellen

 

[ejw]

Tenerife...I have been trying to set up a Dolphin and whale excursion, but they do not return my emails. I am not sure what to do as my DGD does not want to snorkel and the excursion DCL is offering is a snorkeling one. The park excursion sound a lot like sea world and I want her to experience that area and what it has to offer. I am open to suggestions. In fact I am hoping for some. I even went to cruise critics to see if they had any reports that mught give me ideas. No such luck there either. I have checked the Tenerife web sites as well. Help...anyone. Time is running out.

Hi Dee, I am having the same problems as you. no one is responding to my emails and I'm not finding a lot of info on cruise critic, tripadvisor, fodors, etc. I don't know if any of these private operators provide transportation from our port. don't know if any of these private operators are good. I'm also not sure what to do. If this is the excursion we want to do in tenerife, I might just book through disney.

ellen

 

[faireygod mother]

Hi Dee, I am having the same problems as you. no one is responding to my emails and I'm not finding a lot of info on cruise critic, tripadvisor, fodors, etc. I don't know if any of these private operators provide transportation from our port. don't know if any of these private operators are good. I'm also not sure what to do. If this is the excursion we want to do in tenerife, I might just book through disney.

ellen

Glad it is not just me. Not sure what to do about this either except book through DCL. My other dilema is that what DCL has to offer did not seem appealing to all 3 of us. Is you DD interested in anything? I know that he history stuff will just bore DGD, but we do not want to leave her on the ship. We want her to experience the area and culture. She may never make it back to Europe or it may interest her so much that she will want to go back.

Well I will keep checking and share whatever I find out.

 

[ejw]

Glad it is not just me. Not sure what to do about this either except book through DCL. My other dilema is that what DCL has to offer did not seem appealing to all 3 of us. Is you DD interested in anything? I know that he history stuff will just bore DGD, but we do not want to leave her on the ship. We want her to experience the area and culture. She may never make it back to Europe or it may interest her so much that she will want to go back.

Well I will keep checking and share whatever I find out.

After my DD saw the Samantha Brown show on barcelona, she was not interested in seeing that city. when I told her about the fat tire bike tour that slindamood is putting together, she got excited. if seeing the city on a bike works for her, then it works for us. you might want to check into it. for barcelona I'm also thinking about the magic fountains and La Rambla. Anything more into history or culture will bore her. My DH would also like to make it up to Monserrant. Not sure about cadiz....maybe go to seville. for gibraltra probably will see the Rock and barbary apes. just have to decide if we will do that thru disney. for tenerife, maybe either the whales and dolphins or the jeep tour to the national park. I will go over the excursions with DD to see what interests her. the excursions have to be things we all want to do and I want DD to get a taste of Europe. bottom line is that if I think the activity is worth doing and DD is not thrilled, she'll have to do it anyway.

 

[faireygod mother]

After my DD saw the Samantha Brown show on barcelona, she was not interested in seeing that city. when I told her about the fat tire bike tour that slindamood is putting together, she got excited. if seeing the city on a bike works for her, then it works for us. you might want to check into it. for barcelona I'm also thinking about the magic fountains and La Rambla. Anything more into history or culture will bore her. My DH would also like to make it up to Monserrant. Not sure about cadiz....maybe go to seville. for gibraltra probably will see the Rock and barbary apes. just have to decide if we will do that thru disney. for tenerife, maybe either the whales and dolphins or the jeep tour to the national park. I will go over the excursions with DD to see what interests her. the excursions have to be things we all want to do and I want DD to get a taste of Europe. bottom line is that if I think the activity is worth doing and DD is not thrilled, she'll have to do it anyway.

We have a private tour scheduled for Sunday. All DGD wants to see is the fountains because that is what she saw in the Cheeta girls movie. In Gibralter we are also goign to do the rock and Barbary Apes. We have not decided whether to do it on our own or through DCL. In Cadiz she wants to see the Flamingo dancers, so I think we are going to do the DCL tour. I wanted to do Seville by train on our own, but it is 2 hours each way and I thought that might be a waste of 4 hours. We are going to discuss it again on Friday our plan for Tenerife. I think we may just conceide and do the DCL Dolphin and Whale snorkel. She can swim with us and not snorkel. Keep me posted on your plans and maybe if they are the similar she will be more intersted.

 

[ejw]

We have a private tour scheduled for Sunday. All DGD wants to see is the fountains because that is what she saw in the Cheeta girls movie. In Gibralter we are also goign to do the rock and Barbary Apes. We have not decided whether to do it on our own or through DCL. In Cadiz she wants to see the Flamingo dancers, so I think we are going to do the DCL tour. I wanted to do Seville by train on our own, but it is 2 hours each way and I thought that might be a waste of 4 hours. We are going to discuss it again on Friday our plan for Tenerife. I think we may just conceide and do the DCL Dolphin and Whale snorkel. She can swim with us and not snorkel. Keep me posted on your plans and maybe if they are the similar she will be more intersted.

I'll let you know what we decide to do. Looks like we might already be doing some of the same things. I think the fountains would be nice to see on saturday night. Is your DGD looking forward to spending time in the oceaneer's lab? My DD is.

 

[EileenAmI]

So...what have I missed??

I'm usually on another board, and forget to check here.

who wants to give me a rundown of the past 100 or so pagess?

 

[faireygod mother]

I'll let you know what we decide to do. Looks like we might already be doing some of the same things. I think the fountains would be nice to see on saturday night. Is your DGD looking forward to spending time in the oceaneer's lab? My DD is.

What good news. My DGD is really looking forward to the clubs. She really enjoys them. I too was thinking of the fountains on saturday night. I am also trying to figure out if we can do the chocolate museum and a class there for her on saturday. Trying to work out the time with the arrival of our flight.

 

[faireygod mother]

So...what have I missed??

I'm usually on another board, and forget to check here.

who wants to give me a rundown of the past 100 or so pagess?

It would be simple, not much has been going on. There are some excursions being planned, but I do not think anything is written is stone yet. I will defer that to others who may have signed up.

 

[DisneyElf]

Bought time you showed up - Eileen



TGIF - another Week closer


Found a good deal for a tour of the Champagne region of France -- Well Arranged Travel - approx $ 120 pp - but 12 hours and 3 champagne houses .... should be a blast (what we remember of it ).

 

[ejw]

What good news. My DGD is really looking forward to the clubs. She really enjoys them. I too was thinking of the fountains on saturday night. I am also trying to figure out if we can do the chocolate museum and a class there for her on saturday. Trying to work out the time with the arrival of our flight.

I'm also wondering if an excursion would be possible for saturday afternoon and the chocolate factory was one possibility. I think there are only 2 or 3 that have an afternoon time. We fly out of JFK friday afternoon and get to barcelona at 10:40 am on saturday. The chocolate factory starts at 1:30pm. But to do an afternoon excursion might interfere with early dining. I'm a little concerned with excursions in other ports also interfering with dining time. They don't have meeting times posted. My DH really enjoys dining in the disney restaurants and does not want to miss this.

 

[smores]

ok . . .gotta get this off my chest. . .anybody else nervous about a transatlantic crossing--i wasn't until the whole "sea diamond" thing then it reminds everyone about the oceanos--what happens if we are day 3 in the transatlantic portion and something happens to the ship--how quickly can other ships/helicopter/rescue crews get to us? do we just "bob" around in life rafts? please help ease my mind--i know it's very unlikely--but i guess i'm worried about being in the middle of "nowhere"!

 

[DenverVal]

Hundreds of ships are cruising every single day without mishap. There are no reefs to run into in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. No, I'm not worried at all, and no, I'm not going to dwell on it at all. I am going to pay attention to the lifeboat drill and read the emergency instructions, and then I'm going to enjoy my vacation.

 

[DisneyElf]

Yeah - but don't forget the rougue waves

I've seen the remake of Poisden a couple of times - and everytime I see it - it looks more and more like the ship starts to rollover- when it spots the wave coming


In all seriousness - the NCL ship the Dawn was hit with a 70' wave last year - it did blow out some window - etc. but the ship stayed up fine - and the few injuries that were reported were minor. And the Capt decided to bring the ship right through the heart of the storm.

I think Disney - will keep us out of the storms - and bypass them ... one of my co-workers - 68 yrs old has done 4 or 5 transatlantics and loves them - never once mentioned waves being a problem.

In terms of evacuation - DCL does a great job with crew training - and if need be - they are up to any emergency.

One last thought - what were those poor people thinking -- if I had water coming in under my cabin door, and would be out of there in a flash - and finding out what was doing on.... not waiting for the cabin to fill up.

 

[smores]

i read a detailed interview with the wife (of missing passengers) she said as soon as they saw water coming under the door she opened the cabin door (she also said it was very difficult to open the door because of the water). when she opened the door the water immediately was above her head--she swam under water about 2 meters then surfaced and saw no hint of her family--she new they were good swimmers so she went up on deck to find her son--never saw her husband/daughter again!

i'm not so worried about storms/waves/reefs etc--more worried about fires which are more likely on a cruise ship. . .

just looking for peace of mind

 

[smores]

ok--trying to pu the above out of my mind. . .

did you know that we GAIN 1 hour each night we are at sea (transatlantic!)--that means we actually get 5-6 EXTRA hours!!!! maybe i will find time to work out!

found this about weather transatlantic (not sure if this was a "southern" crossing or not and it was from OCTOBER)

The weather was really great for a transatlantic crossing. We had some clouds and sun, moderate temperatures, no rain, but we did have two days of fog. It seemed we enjoyed walking the decks through the fog and hearing the subtle sound of the ship's fog horns. No seasick pills needed -- the ocean was quite calm.

 

[smores]

here is what i found regarding weather. . .

Weather:
Climate and current weather information for Transatlantic cruises: The climate for spring and fall transatlantic sailings is similar. Daytime temperatures range from the 60 to 70°F / (16-21°C), with evening temperatures 10-20's °F/(5-6°C) degrees less. Rain is common in spring and fall which will affect the calmness of the waters. Overall you may experience a variety of weather.

 

[faireygod mother]

I'm also wondering if an excursion would be possible for saturday afternoon and the chocolate factory was one possibility. I think there are only 2 or 3 that have an afternoon time. We fly out of JFK friday afternoon and get to barcelona at 10:40 am on saturday. The chocolate factory starts at 1:30pm. But to do an afternoon excursion might interfere with early dining. I'm a little concerned with excursions in other ports also interfering with dining time. They don't have meeting times posted. My DH really enjoys dining in the disney restaurants and does not want to miss this.

Wow I had to check to make sure that it was not me posting instead of someone else. My Dh also loves early dining in the resturaunt. In fact when we did Palo we go the latest reservation they had so DH could still eat dinner in the resuraunt. Go figure and I am the one who is "fluffy"

I think I am goign to try and figure out our arrival day. I thought after we checked into the ship that DH and DGD would probable want to nap, which really cuts into the Chocolate factory tour. We may just go out after dinner and see the fountains and walk around a little. I have a little more research to do on what will be open and where it is safe.

 

[faireygod mother]

here is what i found regarding weather. . .

Weather:
Climate and current weather information for Transatlantic cruises: The climate for spring and fall transatlantic sailings is similar. Daytime temperatures range from the 60 to 70°F / (16-21°C), with evening temperatures 10-20's °F/(5-6°C) degrees less. Rain is common in spring and fall which will affect the calmness of the waters. Overall you may experience a variety of weather.

Well then we should be fine as we are sailing in the late summer.

 

[BUDDY]

ok . . .gotta get this off my chest. . .anybody else nervous about a transatlantic crossing-- do we just "bob" around in life rafts? please help ease my mind--i know it's very unlikely--but i guess i'm worried about being in the middle of "nowhere"!

No, in the unlikely event that such a thing should occur, Disney issues you a pair of genuine Tigger Pants & then you just bounce on your butt until you reach land.