June 27, 2007 10 Night - The Rodney Dangerfield of Med Cruises

[cruisinsuzie]

Were back too!

Came in late Saturday flight into Paris was held on Tarmac Air Frances ground crews held a Wild Cat Strike on Saturday!

Got off plane had 3 hours to kill had late lunch went to terminal for flight home plane was there but delayed (due to strike) for 2 & 1/2 hours!!

Boarded plane at 9PM (Paris Time) didnt take off untill 11PM!!!!

Arrived Boston about Midnight I figure we spent about 24 hours in transit!

Hey we were on the same lovely flight!!!! Wasn't that fun!! We got home at 2AM which felt like 8AM and we should be getting up for breakfast and preparing for a tour

 

[UMTerp]

Anyone home yet from the cruise? Can't wait to hear everyone's experiences. We got home last night or should I say very early this morning. We had a great time and were really sad to have to leave. I'm wondering who is going to be making my bed this morning. Oh, that would be me. Back to the real world.

Would you please send me an e-mail or PM? I would like to ask you a few questions about your experience with BA/Iberia out of Dulles airport. Thanks so much!

UMTerp

 

[habibi]

Would you please send me an e-mail or PM? I would like to ask you a few questions about your experience with BA/Iberia out of Dulles airport. Thanks so much!

UMTerp

UMTerp we flew Iberia out of Dulles and I have to say that based on our experience with them I would never use them again. The only good thing about it was that we paid a lot less than we would have if we had flown another airline.

When we checked in for our flight from DC to Madrid (and we checked in really early) we asked for specific seats (a window and an isle together and then the isle seat across) which they said they gave us but when we actually got on the plane it was an isle seat and 2 middle seats. The flight attendants were no help with the situation.

On the way back they didn't seat us together. I ended up having to sit behind the kids (in a middle seat) and my sister and her husband who were in business class didn't get seats together. I talked to the man who was seated in my row and he told me that they when they checked in at Barcelona Iberia bumped their in-laws off the flight and that they were stuck in Barcelona an extra day. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll try to answer them.

 

[TDC Nala]

Yikes. Look at all the flight stories. Robert, your kids must have gone nuts.

I flew US Airways from Barcelona to Philly connecting to DCA (Reagan National) and other than something going wrong with the baggage conveyers in Barcelona it went okay.

 

[buck4568]

Were back too!

Came in late Saturday flight into Paris was held on Tarmac Air Frances ground crews held a Wild Cat Strike on Saturday!

Got off plane had 3 hours to kill had late lunch went to terminal for flight home plane was there but delayed (due to strike) for 2 & 1/2 hours!!

Boarded plane at 9PM (Paris Time) didnt take off untill 11PM!!!!

Arrived Boston about Midnight I figure we spent about 24 hours in transit!

Wow, that was a long day for you guys! We were home and in bed by 10:00 PM Sunday. We stayed overnight in Barcelona after we got off the Magic. The 2 hour flight out of Barcelona to Amsterdam on Sunday was nice but the 10 hour flight from Amsterdam to Miami was loooonnngg with daylight all the way. It was much nicer flying to Amsterdam from Miami because it was night time and everyone slept at least part of the way.

RJAYL, we got my DD bag at 9:00 PM Saturday at the hotel. She went 19 days without it! Unbelieveable!!

 

[lzj21428]

Buck, did you and your family do the Costa Smerelda excursion w/ Disney? Just curious as I heard someone talking about their daughters lost bag. How did the airline handle any compensation? What did you do about clothes for her?

Another question for all. What was everyones dining rotation? We had late seating, APL rotation. Our servers were Ivo and Alessandro.

Glad to hear everyone made it home safe and sound, despite the long, tiring flights.

 

[michellebriana]

Well I am finally back to reality! We flew home yesterday after staying in Barcelona for 2 extra nights - 1 would have been enough for me! Our flight ended up landing almost 4 hours late! It was direct to Newark, but we had to make an emergency landing to re-fuel and fix 3 out of 4 bathrooms! We couldn't leave the plane in Boston since we were international. Overall, we were on the plan for 13 hours!!! Back at work today and really wish I was still at sea. I never made the meet on the first day since I ended up going to the martini tasting at the same time. Went to the pool afterwards, but looks like everyone had gone by then. Great cruise, but wish there were more sea days. It was tough to enjoy the ship when I was never on it! Also missed a few shows and events due to late excursions or trying to rest up for the next one! I am going to attempt a trip report this week. We also booked onboard for the 7 night Costa Maya cruise over Halloween 2008.

 

[KarenGillFL]

We got home last night after a whirlwind 16 days away. Saturday we flew from Barcelona to London. Sunday from London to Orlando. We spent Monday at Blizzard Beach waterpark and drove home last night. It is good to be home. We has an amazing time and can't wait for the next cruise.

 

[buck4568]

Buck, did you and your family do the Costa Smerelda excursion w/ Disney? Just curious as I heard someone talking about their daughters lost bag. How did the airline handle any compensation? What did you do about clothes for her?

Another question for all. What was everyones dining rotation? We had late seating, APL rotation. Our servers were Ivo and Alessandro.

Glad to hear everyone made it home safe and sound, despite the long, tiring flights.

Yes, I forget what the bus number was but we were on the Costa Smerelda tour. It is all a blur right now but we had a great trip even with the baggage problem.

We bought a few things at each port to keep her in some different clothes because we were being told that the bag was enroute to the next port of call where we would get it but each day the bag was not there! Because the bag was delayed and not lost the compensation looks to be very minimal through the trip insurance but it will take at least a month to get anything from that I am told. Lots of paperwork and more time to chase $100 . They make it as difficult as possible to try and get you to not bother with chasing the compensation.

I am still trying to get to a human being at Northwest Airlines to get something out of them. It was a total of 17 days that DD was without most of her stuff. Come to find out Barcelona Airport is notourious for baggage problems. Even a few Disney people said that if they were to do the Med again they would not be surprised if DCL looked at other alternative ports to leave out of because of the many lost bags that people on all the cruises have had to deal with so far.

 

[AstroAlphamatt]

All the numbers I remember are 12, 21, 26 and 11. But I don't think any of them for Costa Smeralda.

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

PICTURES! I WANT PICTURES.

Please?


Seems like it was a great trip. Glad everyone made it back safely. Now about those pictures ...

 

[AstroAlphamatt]

Well, we only have some pictures.. My sister lost her camera's memory card so we only have a few pictures. She blames DD AKA Buck4568 for the lossage of the card..

EDIT:Mom through the mem card away.

 

[lzj21428]

I have some pics on my blog. Address in my siggy below.

 

[TDC Nala]

I'll put pix in the blog if I ever finish it and have time to resize them.

 

[mickeymad]

Hey everyone!

We're back too... actually got back in the wee hours of Monday after a night in London on the way back. We too missed the pool meet because the DVC member meet was at the same time!

We had an absolute blast!!! Everything was just wonderful. The flights home were a little challenging. With our crankiness after a full vacation, the previous England bombings and the heightened alert level, I think it seemed more annoying. We took the Disney transportation to the airport at about 10 am but our flight wasnt until 3.. then it was delayed an hour.... By the time we got back to London..... which was heaving with people due to Wimbledon, Tour de France, and the Live Earth, it was almost 8 pm. The cool thing was the amount of celebrities flying into LA from London. There was Jamie Lee Curtis, the Gray's Anatomy cast, the Black Eyed Peas and Ryan Seacrest. That makes it more fun to wait the hour and 25 minutes for the luggage to get off the plane!!!!

Now what are we going to do???? We actually have a daughter leaving for college so my focus has definitely swerved... I miss someone making my bed and we had hamburgers for dinner last night. I could tell my husband was disappointed when he walked in from work last night and I said turn on the BBQ! I only gained 5 pounds but I feel like I gained 12!!! Back to the gym which I only made it to ONCE on the cruise!

Got the pics in a book, no comments, no scrapbooking, just stuck but... hey, it's a start!

We hope you all had a great time too with magical memories that last a lifetime! Julie

 

[ImprovGal]

What an amazing trip!!! I'm about ready to move to Tuscany or Provence.

Ok, I could've done without getting sick for the last few days of the cruise. (For those who submitted entries in the "Name That Contagion" contest, the correct answer was indeed "bronchitis" although credit will also be given for "pharyngitis".) Cheers to the CVS brand version of "Earplanes" that got me through my return flights without any pain. Jeers to the USAirways gate agent at Providence who shut down power to the arrival gate jetway making me shlep my carryons down a flight of stairs off the plane and then up the flight of stairs to the next open jetway.

-- ImprovGal (still reeling from her Scrabble tile malfunction)

 

[stefarr]

hi guys

thought i d bump up thread...just for old times sake..missing the magic

only this heatwave in the med.........wish disney went to alsaka..tried to book repo cruise 2008..all booked boohooo

 

[TDC Nala]

hi guys

thought i d bump up thread...just for old times sake..missing the magic

only this heatwave in the med.........wish disney went to alsaka..tried to book repo cruise 2008..all booked boohooo

Keep looking, people will cancel.

 

[buck4568]

hi guys

thought i d bump up thread...just for old times sake..missing the magic

only this heatwave in the med.........wish disney went to alsaka..tried to book repo cruise 2008..all booked boohooo

Bump!!

Missing Europe so much!! Got the pictures running on our screensaver so it is always fresh in the memory bank!

TDC Nala, I am thinking of getting on that wait list too! Costs as much as a seven day Mexican Riviera I think but twice as long. Have to get an inside Cat 11 or 12 but I could live with that!

 

[AstroAlphamatt]

Bump!!

Missing Europe so much!! Got the pictures running on our screensaver so it is always fresh in the memory bank!

TDC Nala, I am thinking of getting on that wait list too! Costs as much as a seven day Mexican Riviera I think but twice as long. Have to get an inside Cat 11 or 12 but I could live with that!

The rest of us can't dad!!! I will get any room but on deck 1 or 2 and no aft!!