July 28, 2007 - "Rome-ancing the Mouse Cruisers" -11 days! Part 2

[eeyorelvr10]

Well just got back from the party - the girl had fun but I will let you know tomorrow if my hearing comes back. Is it a sign that you;ve turned into your parents when the music is too loud?

 

[bellelinus]

How'd you like it? I'm thinking about getting the Little Mermaid tix for next winter....

Did you like it? I want to take my girls to see this.....You might not have heard me say we have an exchange student coming to our house for next year from Oslo Norway.....One thing I want to do for sure is to ake her to Wicked and Legally Blonde....and anything else you might recommend. She is 17 and doing her senior year in HS in the US

In my opinion, if you and/or your girls liked the movie "Legally Blonde" they will love the musical . . . it was very true to form. My two younger girls (12 and almost 10) loved the two movies and LOVED the musical . . . my older (almost 15) isn't a fan and didn't care for the musical. (She's a huge "Spring Awakening" fan and I will be taking her back to see that for the third time today at 2-- we have the seats that are right on the stage.) As for me, I can't say that "Legally Blonde" was my favorite B'way musical, but it was a pleasant enough way to spend 2 1/2 hours.

As for "Little Mermaid," I'm sure I will take my girls to see that. I have some sad feelings about it, though, since it is replacing "Beauty and the Beast" which closes in July. One of my best friends has been a violinist in the orchestra there for many years, has taken my two oldest with her into the pit during shows, we've been to Central Park to cheer her on when the Broadway softball league plays in the summer, etc. "Mermaid" only has two violins scored while "Beauty" has six, so she and three others are losing their jobs. Now she has to start looking for another show with an opening, and hope that the show makes it!

As for the foreign exchange student, I agree that "Wicked" is a must. When you get to know her a little better you will be able to see what other shows she might be most interested in -- "Legally Blonde" "Hairspray" "The Lion King" and "Mamma Mia" come to mind . . .

 

[disneylover5]

In my opinion, if you and/or your girls liked the movie "Legally Blonde" they will love the musical . . . it was very true to form. My two younger girls (12 and almost 10) loved the two movies and LOVED the musical . . . my older (almost 15) isn't a fan and didn't care for the musical. (She's a huge "Spring Awakening" fan and I will be taking her back to see that for the third time today at 2-- we have the seats that are right on the stage.) As for me, I can't say that "Legally Blonde" was my favorite B'way musical, but it was a pleasant enough way to spend 2 1/2 hours.

As for "Little Mermaid," I'm sure I will take my girls to see that. I have some sad feelings about it, though, since it is replacing "Beauty and the Beast" which closes in July. One of my best friends has been a violinist in the orchestra there for many years, has taken my two oldest with her into the pit during shows, we've been to Central Park to cheer her on when the Broadway softball league plays in the summer, etc. "Mermaid" only has two violins scored while "Beauty" has six, so she and three others are losing their jobs. Now she has to start looking for another show with an opening, and hope that the show makes it!

As for the foreign exchange student, I agree that "Wicked" is a must. When you get to know her a little better you will be able to see what other shows she might be most interested in -- "Legally Blonde" "Hairspray" "The Lion King" and "Mamma Mia" come to mind . . .

Thanks very much for the update on shows.....I am so sorry about your friend...that is a bummer!! Our exchange student (Vanessa) is a violinist and her mom plays in the Oslo symphony. I am hoping she can tryout for our High School Orchesta....our HS is Westfield, 4000 kids.....largest HS in the state of Virginia....so I hope she has a shot.

Here is my question, do I need to plan this now....how far in advance to I need to buy tickets and still get okay seats?

 

[salliep]

I copy and pasted this from the live thread a few minutes ago- flashing pins are another idea, we do have some from one of our disney vac.- if you have a flashing pin, or anything that glows that would be fine


We have heard that there are only about 300 children onboard. We have also heard that we are pretty full. We missed the Welcome Aboard show because we were getting gifts ready to go out, but heard that at both shows Rachel said “How many of you are first time cruisers?”, “How many of you are Castaway Club members?” (We have over 1000) and finally “How many of you are DISboarders?”. Everyone was very impressed!

Dinner was the Welcome Aboard menu which was a little different than normal. We unfortunately had to miss dessert to catch the sailaway party. We’d have to say there wasn’t many changes to the party and most of the DISers I spoke to were not impressed. The best part about the party were the glow necklaces and bracelets and flashing pins (provided by a cruiser who did the crossing and this cruise (pins) and Dreams Unlimited Travel (glow necklaces). We did get glove shaped paddles to wave goodbye to Barcelona.

 

[jlawall]

Thx for the Broadway show tix!! Thx for the update Sallie!!

 

[jlawall]

There is an incredible story on the May 26th thread about DISers who lost their passport while they were buying Starbucks on their journey to the Med cruise.....they couldn't find their passport until it was too late and NOW THEY'LL BE ON OUR CRUISE!! Good warning for all of us to be careful with our documentation (especially passports) while we are packing and traveling....

 

[kidcoos3]

There is an incredible story on the May 26th thread about DISers who lost their passport while they were buying Starbucks on their journey to the Med cruise.....they couldn't find their passport until it was too late and NOW THEY'LL BE ON OUR CRUISE!! Good warning for all of us to be careful with our documentation (especially passports) while we are packing and traveling....

Wasn't that sooooo sad? Glad it turned out for them. I sent a link to our site for them.

Maryjo - the picture of your kids is great - look like they enjoy each other's company - I am hoping my kids will be that way as they get older.

Awefully quiet without the Brits here - I guess we need them to keep things lively!!

 

[AnnaS]

There is an incredible story on the May 26th thread about DISers who lost their passport while they were buying Starbucks on their journey to the Med cruise.....they couldn't find their passport until it was too late and NOW THEY'LL BE ON OUR CRUISE!! Good warning for all of us to be careful with our documentation (especially passports) while we are packing and traveling....

Hi Everyone,

Have not been on much - a little bit busy

I don't even want to think about this happening. My son (middle one 19) is going to the Bahamas with his friends in June - I am and will be sooooooo worried he will loose it. I know what I went through when we lost/could not find my oldest son's passport recently.

Welcome to Joehardy and pretty soon the new family once they come on over and join us.

 

[disneylover5]

Yes, That story about the passport totally freaked me out.....I think we should ALL send the family a PM and welcome them......I am going to!!

Originally Posted by DisneySpirit
Well, there is good news and bad news.

The bad is we will not be joining you and all our friends on the Magic's first Mediterranean cruise. Words cannot express how sad we are to be missing this trip with all of you. I had ordered Roses and the Bon Voyage chocolate covered strawberries and wine package to surprise Lynn in our cabin to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We have both shed a lot of tears these last 2 days. Please tell Shane and Laurie we are so sorry we could not continue our trip with them. Laurie lent us her cell phone as they were boarding the plane in Atlanta and it helped us a lot! (We will get it back to her when they return to Phoenix.)

The good news is we met some of the most wonderful people at the Atlanta airport who helped us cope with this disaster. After we arrived in the Atlanta airport we went to another terminal to wait for our next plane and get something to eat. In front of Arbys I reached in my right front pocket to get my wallet out and felt there was only one passport, mine, in the same pocket where I had put both of our passports after clearing security in Phoenix. Panic set in as I tried to remember all the possible places I had taken out my wallet and could have dropped Lynn's passport. In Phoenix, I had gone to Starbucks before Shane and Laurie met up with us at the gate and had also had taken out my wallet while sitting at the gate area to give Lynn some money to go an get something to eat. The only other time I could remember putting my hand in that pocket was to take some pills I had in a small box while on the plane from Phoenix to Atlanta. So, unless someone had picket my pocket while in the Atlanta airport, it seemed the passport must have dropped out of my pocket when I accessed my wallet in Phoenix or on the plane. After carefully going through all our carry on bags multiple times, I rushed back to the gate we had arrived at in Atlanta. I asked the gate attendants if anyone had found a passport and they said no. They said the planes are cleaned between flights so it would have been turned in if it had been found. Also, that plane had already departed for San Francisco, so we could not check our seats again. I returned to the food court with the bad news. Time ran out as I racked my brain on where the missing passport could be. We had a photo copy of the passport in Lynn's wallet but, they would not accept that to board. We watched our friends board the plane without us and I realized I needed to get our 4 suitcases off that plane! The gate attendant told us we would have to go to baggage claim and request them. We ran to the baggage claim service desk where there was a huge line of passengers waiting to be served. I panicked and apologized to everyone as I cut to the head of the line telling the attendant I only had 15 minutes to get our bags off of that plane!. After some confusion, I learned that on international flights, bags are only loaded if the owners are confirmed boarding the plane. I also learned it would take up to 4 hours for the bags to show up at the baggage claim area! The Delta lost and found office was next to the baggage claim service desk so I checked with them and there was nothing. They sent a text message to Delta operations in San Francisco to check our seats again when the plane arrived there. We waited 4 hours the answer which was negative on the plane in SF. Our bags still had not come so this very nice lady from Delta's baggage service desk, (she knew our plight), took our baggage claim stubs and went to track them down. She returned about 45 minutes later with our bags! We thanked her and returned to the ticketing area to decide how to get back to Phoenix. By now, we were both extremely exhausted. We had gotten up at 4am in Phoenix and it was after 12am in Atlanta by now. We talked with 2 ticketing attendants and told them what had happened so far and requested how best to get back to Phoenix. One of the attendants would not let us give up. She was so positive we would find the passport and overcame our doom and gloom attitude. She looked up every conceivable phone number in both the Phoenix and Atlanta airports for Delta Lost & Found, TSA lost & Found, airport Lost & Found, airport operations, even the Starbucks in Phoenix's terminal 3. She tried calling all these numbers but either received automated answer messages or negative answers regarding the passport. She would NOT let us give up! She said we should wait until late morning and try the numbers again. We were so sad & tired and all of the comfy chairs in the airport were taken with the holiday passengers sleeping in them! This incredible lady from Delta ticketing would just not let us give up! Our ticket to Barcelona was not refundable and we did not have travel insurance either. She rebooked us on the next flight to Barcelona and even reserved us a seat on a flight via Rome to Palermo on the next day so we could rejoin the ship if we found the passport and could get it in time. Anyway, she gave us a complimentary hotel voucher and a bunch of complimentary 5 minute phone cards, since we did not have the charger for Laurie's cell phone, and said go get some sleep and try again later in the morning. We went to get the free shuttle to the hotel but the phone number for the shuttle was constantly busy! We talked with the driver of a shuttle for another hotel and after hearing our story, she volunteered to take us to our hotel even though she didn't work for them! WOW!!! She dropped us off near our hotel's lobby so as not to be seen and I gave her a nice tip and thanked her for her trouble. We got to our room by 3am and slept until 7:30am. We returned to the airport and retried all the same numbers to no avail but left messages to call us on Laurie's cell phone regarding the passport. We finally decided to call Disney Cruise Lines to see what our options were. Well, the castmembers we spoke with were incredible!!! We asked if we could possibly rebook one of the later cruises using some of the $12,000 we had spent on this one. We were told there was nothing available at first but then one of the supervisors tried again without entering the air travel add-on and surprise!!! For $435 additional perperson we got booked on the July 28th 11-day Med Cruise in a Cat 6 stateroom with a verandah just as we had booked on our previous reservation!!! She also told us not to book a flight back to Phoenix just yet and to call her back in 30 minutes. We went and got coffee and a Danish and called her back after the 30 minutes as requested. When we called back she gave us a confirmation code for tickets back to Phoenix at 4:30pm!!!! Man somebody pinch me! I must be dreaming! First nightmare then WOW! We need to check with Delta but we probably can use our Barcelona tickets on this cruise as well. So, it seems, we will get to the Med after all! We will miss you all terribly but, have a great cruise and we can't wait to hear all about it! While waiting for our flight back to Phoenix we went and had some lunch at the food court. We got a call from Starbucks in Phoenix and they had found Lynn's passport!!! We picked it up when we arrived back last night! So we are ready for July's cruise!

Sorry this was so long, but believe me when I say it was much longer for us!

Tom & Lynn (DisneySpirit)

 

[jlawall]

Good idea, I'll send one over!

 

[MrsG]

I totally know what you mean about the assertive child. We want our daughters to speak for ourselves - now I think that my daughter has great qualities for being a CEO - pretty hard on the moms though!!

Yes. I agree. My daughter can certainly hold her own!!!! It was really hard on us at home (but now that's her DH's problem, not ours)

 

[jlawall]

Yes. I agree. My daughter can certainly hold her own!!!! It was really hard on us at home (but now that's her DH's problem, not ours)

I have three assertive daughters myself!!

 

[MrsG]

Oh my, what a story about the lost passport. I'll PM them as well. DH suggested that perhaps if there was a way to put a cell phone number on a label on the passport cover maybe a kind soul could have called them and they would have known the passport was safe sooner.

 

[DisneySpirit]

Hi Everyone. DisneySpirit here. We missed our cruise to the Med on 5/26 because of a lost passport while traveling to Barcelona. For the gorey details read our trip report for the current 5/26 Magic Med cruise. But, the good news is we will be joining all of you now instead. We don't know our room # as yet but have a Cat 6 guaranteed (Deluxe stateroom with verandah) We want to fly out a day earlier this time so could sure use some hotel suggestions for Barcelona.
Looking forward to meeting all of you!

DisneySpirit

Tom (56) Lynn (55)

 

[kidcoos3]

Hi Everyone. DisneySpirit here. We missed our cruise to the Med on 5/26 because of a lost passport while traveling to Barcelona. For the gorey details read our trip report for the current 5/26 Magic Med cruise. But, the good news is we will be joining all of you now instead. We don't know our room # as yet but have a Cat 6 guaranteed (Deluxe stateroom with verandah) We want to fly out a day earlier this time so could sure use so hotel suggestions for Barcelona.
Looking forward to meeting all of you!

DisneySpirit

Tom (56) Lynn (55)

So glad you could join us!! If you check the 1st page of this thread, Andrew has put together all kinds of lists - including what hotels everyone is staying at.

Hope that helps!

 

[salliep]

Hi Everyone. DisneySpirit here. We missed our cruise to the Med on 5/26 because of a lost passport while traveling to Barcelona. For the gorey details read our trip report for the current 5/26 Magic Med cruise. But, the good news is we will be joining all of you now instead. We don't know our room # as yet but have a Cat 6 guaranteed (Deluxe stateroom with verandah) We want to fly out a day earlier this time so could sure use so hotel suggestions for Barcelona.
Looking forward to meeting all of you!

DisneySpirit

Tom (56) Lynn (55)

Dear Tom and Lynn,
WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME...... I am so sorry to hear about you vacation nightmare. I do believe from the bottom of my heart, that what is meant to be, will be, and there is some higher reason why you were not meant to be on that cruise. I know its easy for a total stranger to say, but, I believe do in that fate thing! In any case, you will love being with the crazy , caring people on this thread.

 

[DisneySpirit]

Thanks for the warm welcome! We have been busy all morning rebooking all our excursions again. We were able to get most of them again and have found some good substitutes for the ones not available. Unfortunately, there are no Palos Dinner or Brunch reservations available. Hope we can get on a wait lists of them to celebrate our 25th anniversary.

 

[bellelinus]

Thanks very much for the update on shows.....I am so sorry about your friend...that is a bummer!! Our exchange student (Vanessa) is a violinist and her mom plays in the Oslo symphony. I am hoping she can tryout for our High School Orchesta....our HS is Westfield, 4000 kids.....largest HS in the state of Virginia....so I hope she has a shot.

Here is my question, do I need to plan this now....how far in advance to I need to buy tickets and still get okay seats?

Legally Blonde is not seeling out these days . . . the show we saw yesterday was at about 90% capacity, and of course some there might have gotten TKTS the day of . . . Wicked is often sold out months and months in advance -- do it as early as you can. Most other show have better availability.

 

[bellelinus]

Hi Everyone. DisneySpirit here. We missed our cruise to the Med on 5/26 because of a lost passport while traveling to Barcelona. For the gorey details read our trip report for the current 5/26 Magic Med cruise. But, the good news is we will be joining all of you now instead. We don't know our room # as yet but have a Cat 6 guaranteed (Deluxe stateroom with verandah) We want to fly out a day earlier this time so could sure use some hotel suggestions for Barcelona.
Looking forward to meeting all of you!

DisneySpirit

Tom (56) Lynn (55)

So sorry to hear about your terrible situation -- you must have been in a total panic! Hopefully you will have a wonderful time on this cruise and eventually only be able to remember the fun of the cruise and not the disappointment of the one you missed.

 

[salliep]

Thanks for the warm welcome! We have been busy all morning rebooking all our excursions again. We were able to get most of them again and have found some good substitutes for the ones not available. Unfortunately, there are no Palos Dinner or Brunch reservations available. Hope we can get on a wait lists of them to celebrate our 25th anniversary.

We are celebrating our 25th too ! Glad you have all your excursions- I've been told if you hurry to book Palo as soon as you board, you may get lucky- we are planning to do the same thing!