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

[MrsJobba1]

Have you checked the DCL Website today, we have an extra stop at Palma Majorca, day 2. We now leave at 5pm Day 1, and have the next day to explore Palma.


Posted 00.00 April 1st.

Happy April fools day !

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Happy April fools day !

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Mine still hasnt changed

July 28, 2007

Ports of Call:
Barcelona, Spain
Palermo, Sicily
Naples, Italy (Pompeii)
Olbia, Sardinia
Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome)
La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa)
Marseille, France
Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice)

12:17 am PST

Sorry!

 

[scottishwee35]

Andrew

We are laughing



Scottishwee35

 

[MrsJobba1]

As we booked through DVC 1 on points the other cash which we had topay upfront - I just wondered when is the final payment due for our cruise? Is it at the 90 days?

 

[AnnaS]

Hi everyone,

Haven't posted here last week or so. Not much input here for pre and post cruise

That was a good April Fools Andrew, for a second I thought you posted on the wrong cruise meet thread.

My letter says I can begin booking shore excursions on April 29th - which is on a Saturday. So that means that at 12:01 am I can book our excursion on-line for my two cabins, correct? If I decide to do it over the phone, does anyone know what time?

We were thinking of doing a beach excursion in Obia - at first I thought they offered lunch with the Coda Cavallo one, but I can't justify spending $119 each for three hours at the beach. I would rather go sightseeing. Beach will have to wait for the U.S. or the Caribbean Island/Mexico.

I have more or less picked first and second choice - all through DCL. Unless my 21 and 19 year old move their butt and decide to look over them and want to do something on their own (Like the Jeep Safari in Obia, etc).

I am wondering if I should find a pair of good/comfortable shoes/sandals and break them in before cruising for the 10 hour exucrsions. I don't know about the sneakers/tennis shoes - I hear we will stand out since Europeans don't wear them. Not that it really matters - we will only be there for the day and I don't want blisters to deal with

On one of our cruises, we did a grab thingy at the dismeet - it was one bag, something small per family (an item or two i.e. dollar store). If time is good for dismeet and you guys decide to do this, count me in also.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

As we booked through DVC 1 on points the other cash which we had topay upfront - I just wondered when is the final payment due for our cruise? Is it at the 90 days?

Friday 27th April-is pay day.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Hi everyone,

Haven't posted here last week or so. Not much input here for pre and post cruise

That was a good April Fools Andrew, for a second I thought you posted on the wrong cruise meet thread.

My letter says I can begin booking shore excursions on April 29th - which is on a Saturday. So that means that at 12:01 am I can book our excursion on-line for my two cabins, correct? If I decide to do it over the phone, does anyone know what time?

We were thinking of doing a beach excursion in Obia - at first I thought they offered lunch with the Coda Cavallo one, but I can't justify spending $119 each for three hours at the beach. I would rather go sightseeing. Beach will have to wait for the U.S. or the Caribbean Island/Mexico.

I have more or less picked first and second choice - all through DCL. Unless my 21 and 19 year old move their butt and decide to look over them and want to do something on their own (Like the Jeep Safari in Obia, etc).

I am wondering if I should find a pair of good/comfortable shoes/sandals and break them in before cruising for the 10 hour exucrsions. I don't know about the sneakers/tennis shoes - I hear we will stand out since Europeans don't wear them. Not that it really matters - we will only be there for the day and I don't want blisters to deal with

On one of our cruises, we did a grab thingy at the dismeet - it was one bag, something small per family (an item or two i.e. dollar store). If time is good for dismeet and you guys decide to do this, count me in also.

Have a great day everyone!

I think its Sunday 29th.
Shoes I always get my kids to break shoes in before WDW so good idea re walking.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

PS If you thought the Palma April fools joke was funny you should see the Panama Canal one it was a bit more involved.

It gets more silly as you read on:-


Received this e-mail from DCL this morning concerning the Panama crossing.


Thank you for booking a vacation with Disney cruise line, we have some important information concerning the Panama crossing 15 night cruise on August 17th, 2008.

Since your last vacation and our last transit of Panama, we have added a number of new features to the Disney Magic, including the Dumbarton an on deck LED videoscreen wall at the Goofy pool to show late night movies and an enhanced Vista Spa and salon area.

When adding these features to the cruise ship for everyone’s extra enjoyment, it also added weight to the overall ship. This has affected our buoyancy ratio, it is not any problem in normal sea operations, however in freshwater we have identified a problem, as the buoyancy is far less than in sea water.

The Panama crossing is in freshwater and therefore there is a small possibility if the ship is fully occupied and with the additional features as mentioned above the Panama authorities have told us the ship might not rise in the locks.

I am sure you would not wish the ship to travel in any circumstance where safety is compromised, Maritime law dictates we must make provision, so we will have to make some additional conditions of carriage on the Panama crossings, as follows:-

Luggage. Must be restricted to one bag per person.

Any souvenirs purchased in Acapulco should be shipped home, not taken onboard.

Food, the ship will be loaded in Los Angeles with sufficient food upto the Panama Canal and reloaded in Cartagena food will be restricted on the day of the crossing, to add extra buoyancy, and will consist of Salads and light snacks only all day.

We further ask all cruisers who are over 12 stone to either diet before the cruise or work out in the gym each day before the crossing to ensure the safety of the ship. Servers will restrict desserts to one per person until after the crossing.

The Captain reserves the right to ask large cruisers at the first lock of the panama canal to either get off and catch the train to the other end, or when the ship is in the lock to ‘jump’’ upwards when the bridge makes an announcement, ship to assist its levitation.

We hope these restrictions do not effect your enjoyment of this cruise and look forward to sailing with you! Have a Magical Day!

loril Faop
Health and safety.
April 1st 2007.

 

[AnnaS]

Thanks Andrew for the correction - it is Sunday - I was looking at an old calendar - in the garbage now

 

[salliep]

PS If you thought the Palma April fools joke was funny you should see the Panama Canal one it was a bit more involved.

It gets more silly as you read on:-




Andrew- You are too funny!!!!!!!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Thanks Andrew for the correction - it is Sunday - I was looking at an old calendar - in the garbage now

I didnt want you hitting the refresh key on your laptop for 24 hours!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

AND

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

DISNEYLAND PARIS

15 TODAY!​

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Your Vacation begins in 117 Days​

 

[jlawall]

Ok, andrew........that was hysterical!!!!!!!!!!

 

[eeyorelvr10]

all right - we are sad - we were on the 2nd page - we can't have that!

 

[profdsny]

Okay, I'd like to see some feed back from previous cruisers on both Disney and other lines. Is it really possible that the excursions would fill up the first day or sothat they go on sale and not be available for anyone who tried closer to the cruise?
I just can't believe that any cruise would sell out excursions, with a very few exceptions for exclusive ones, so fast that those who might have waited for whatever reason would be shut out. It would seem to me that at that point many people who planed on taking a cruise and found out that none of the tours they were interested in were available would simply cancel. I can't imagine any cruise line shutting out passengers from these. It would be nothing but a money loser for the cruise, both on lost revenue from people who cancel, but also for people who couldn't get one, or any, of the excursions they wanted. As well as bad PR.
I don't mean people deciding the day of the excursion that they want to go, but a reasonable time ahead, even up to a week before the cruise. This just doesn't make financial sense.
What has previous cruisers' experience been?

 

[MrsJobba1]

Hi all,

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Thought I'd tell you about my spending, i've gone a bit mad on ebay and got some really good bargins.
Over the last week I've got
An Italian phrase book & Guide
An Spanish phrase book (yes another one)
An Franch phrase book
A guide book about Pisa
A guide book about Sardina
A guide book about Sicily
A guide book about Naples and the Almalfi coast.
And yet another Barcelona book.

Well Im starting to get cabin fever having to stay in and my doc says im not allowed to do too much, so guess I'll just have to read.

I am really looking forward to the weekend though, we have a large motorhome (RV) and we are going away.

We have 3 dogs and we are in a flyball club.

Flyball is a fun team sport. From a team of up to 6 dogs you select four to run a heat. It is a relay race.The dogs race against another team in another lane, over 4 hurdles , retreive a ball from a box at the end of the lane, and then return back over the 4 hurdles. Then the next dog in the team goes. The winning team is the first to get all 4 dogs back without any faults. I have competed with Ben for nearly 3 years now.

Well this weekend Floss my youngest dog will have her first competition. My friend is going to run Ben for me in his team (Cleveland Hurricanes) and Im going to try with Floss. (Dont tell the doc )I will have a lot of support and its only a case of standing and letting go of her at the right time. Floss' team is the Cleveland Tiny Twisters. Hopefully she'll do ok, as because i've been out of action so to speak she's not had any practice for 7weeks

I'll let you know how we get on

These are some photos of Ben from last year

And one of Floss just running

This is Sally the O A P (She is 14yr old bless her)

 

[AnnaS]

Helen,

Good luck to Floss -

Your dogs look great - nice pictures.

Have fun reading and don't forget to post anything interesting - be careful and take care going out this weekend - try not to over do it.

About the excursions - I have read (perhaps on the all med. sailings thread) that some excursions are offered at two different times (guessing shorter ones). On our first cruise we decided to book excursions on board and found and excursion or two closed. Perhaps next time someone calls dcl we can ask if there is a small percentage they leave open for people who decide to book while on the cruise. Not everyone is on the disboards - but everyone gets brochure w/letter and date to start booking excursions (of course no times, price and length of excursion in brochure). Even so, space is always limited - I will be booking mine on 4/29 - you can always cancel later on if needed. There is always the waitlist - but we have found that if something becomes available - there was only room for one or two/three - not five (or more since we cruise with Wendy - disneymagic316).

 

[salliep]

Good Morning All!
Helen- I loved the pics of your dogs- they are beautiful! I'm happy to hear you are getting out and about, I hope your recovery is not due to something serious. I think a trip in an RV would make anyone feel better! Just don’t overdo!
Anna- I do remember on our last Disney cruise to the Caribbean 5 years ago, many of the excursions were closed out when we went down to book one. I think we went to the concierge desk the day after we left Florida. So I am very concerned about these excursions since I don’t have a clue about traveling in Europe. I was with relatives when I was 16, it was like having private guides. I do feel that everyone should book as early as possible. I wonder if there are penalties for cancellations???
I have off this week from school (Spring Vacation- however there is no sign of spring yet in New York) so I too plan start reading the 15 guidebooks I borrowed from the library and those that I bought.
As I begin my research, I am overwhelmed by how much there will be to see and do in such a small amount of time at each port. Therefore, I feel prior knowledge will be imperative for this trip. I am going to look at these stops, as quick glimpses of beautiful places, so that I will know where I want to travel back to for longer visits.
It really is so close now; I can’t believe how fast a year has gone! I find the older I get, the faster time goes- I wonder why that is. I remember booking vacations and thinking – 4 months was forever away- now I think, OMG I only have 4 months to get ready!!!!
Have a great day all!
Sallie