June 27, 2013 - Magic in the Med (Venice)

[doberlady]

oh and I am praying. I called the school asking of their school calender was done for next year and they said no. I am praying school is over before we leave YIKES. Typically we end the 3rd week of June but with my luck there will be some freak reason we go until the last week.

 

[nzdisneymom]

ok. I emailed DU to switch to this cruise!!

My parents will be in Venice at the same time so it all makes sense!!

There is this cheese shop where you can sit and have a snack and a drink. All the cheeses/olives etc were all lined up behind the counter and you just point to what you want. It was like a piece of heaven sitting there.

I told my mom we were considering changing to Venice and the first thing she said was "remember the cheese shop"

Will be me (Debbie) and my husband (Marty) we have 4 kids and leaving them all home

We are celebrating 20 years of marriage and my 50th Birthday for the cruise. I am really really really scared leaving the kids home (MIL will come stay). They will be at time of cruise 17, 14, 8 and my married oldest dd wil be 30.

Debbie - welcome! DH and I are celebrating 20 yrs this spring but we're bringing the kids! How fun that youre parents will be in Venice at the same time. We met some relatives in Helsinki when we did the DCL Baltic in 2010 - it was so great to hang out with them that day. I'll get you added to the "who's sailing" list in the first post of the thread. Welcome aboard!

 

[doberlady]

Thanks!

We wanted to bring the kids My daughter will be going to college the following year and her choices are pricey!!!

This July we had the NYC Magic booked and it was $9200 for the 5 of us so I canceled and booked NCL and the money that I saved doing that paid for half of my Med cruise.

I really wanted to sail the Magic from NYC but oh well.

Maybe I will hit lotto and I will take you all to the cheese shop LOL

 

[doberlady]

DU just confirmed my change. So you are all stuck with me

Cabin #6603

I had a nice sideways cabin for Greece. None available for Venice but I will keep checking. I am sure DU must hate me by now.

 

[jel0511]

oh and I am praying. I called the school asking of their school calender was done for next year and they said no. I am praying school is over before we leave YIKES. Typically we end the 3rd week of June but with my luck there will be some freak reason we go until the last week.

Our calendar isn't out either, and I'm sweating also. We also usually end the third week, and with DD a freshman in HS, she can't miss anytime at the end of the year due to finals!!!! I'm stalking the Board of Ed site hoping they'll post the calendars soon. Our friends who are also cruising with us, do have their calendars out, and their last day is the 26th, so they're pulling their DD out for the last day to fly in the day before. They have an additional week off than we do, so I'm hoping we'll still get out on the 21st or earlier.

 

[doberlady]

I called our district admin office and the woman was kind of rude about it. Oh well. She said it has not been voted on yet. I then called the HS office and they said it should be posted soon and to keep checking the school website.

I want to be able to get my then 8 year old set for day camp and all before I leave. My then 17 year old will really be in charge even though MIL will be here. I am also counting on her passing her license so she can drive her sister to camp each day (very close to my house).

I am counting on a lot of things falling in place. Kinda scary and exciting at the same time.

This sailing was also $400 cheaper then the Greece sailing I was on so that was a bonus! Although I did really want a sideways since we will be in an inside cabin.

 

[jel0511]

I called our district admin office and the woman was kind of rude about it. Oh well. She said it has not been voted on yet. I then called the HS office and they said it should be posted soon and to keep checking the school website.

I want to be able to get my then 8 year old set for day camp and all before I leave. My then 17 year old will really be in charge even though MIL will be here. I am also counting on her passing her license so she can drive her sister to camp each day (very close to my house).

I am counting on a lot of things falling in place. Kinda scary and exciting at the same time.

This sailing was also $400 cheaper then the Greece sailing I was on so that was a bonus! Although I did really want a sideways since we will be in an inside cabin.

I'm not bothering calling. We've been in this district for 12 years, and in those 12 years, NOT ONCE have the kids gone past the third week, unless there is a ton of snow days.... With Labor Day being early in September this year, they'll probably start us on the 4th to try to get us out by the 21st. Camps around here usually start the last week in June, so I'm sure they BOfE will figure it out.

I'm mean mommy... I'm putting the kids across the hall in the inside...... Hey, they should be happy they're going.....

 

[nzdisneymom]

We are lucky in that our school calendar comes out in late January / early February, and they generally try to get us out by the end of May / first few days of June. But we start back August 20th (or around then generally) and we don't get lots of days off. Labor Day, Teacher Planning Day in late October, Veteran's Day, three days at T'giving. two weeks at Christmas, MLK Jr. day, and a week plus one day at Spring Break (usually 3rd week of March). That's it. No mid-Feb break (they moved the President's day to the Monday after spring break). So for the spring semester, the only days off are spring break - which makes this time of year really long for the kids, plus after spring break is testing scattered throughout the last nine weeks. Ugh. They hate the 4th 9 weeks.

 

[MrsScooby]

ok. I emailed DU to switch to this cruise!!

My parents will be in Venice at the same time so it all makes sense!!

There is this cheese shop where you can sit and have a snack and a drink. All the cheeses/olives etc were all lined up behind the counter and you just point to what you want. It was like a piece of heaven sitting there.

I told my mom we were considering changing to Venice and the first thing she said was "remember the cheese shop"

Will be me (Debbie) and my husband (Marty) we have 4 kids and leaving them all home

We are celebrating 20 years of marriage and my 50th Birthday for the cruise. I am really really really scared leaving the kids home (MIL will come stay). They will be at time of cruise 17, 14, 8 and my married oldest dd wil be 30.

I like cheese
Our original plan was to leave our kids home as well, but it looks like we might be adding them on

oh and I am praying. I called the school asking of their school calender was done for next year and they said no. I am praying school is over before we leave YIKES. Typically we end the 3rd week of June but with my luck there will be some freak reason we go until the last week.

Hope that works out

Thanks!

We wanted to bring the kids My daughter will be going to college the following year and her choices are pricey!!!

This July we had the NYC Magic booked and it was $9200 for the 5 of us so I canceled and booked NCL and the money that I saved doing that paid for half of my Med cruise.

I really wanted to sail the Magic from NYC but oh well.

Maybe I will hit lotto and I will take you all to the cheese shop LOL

Cheese is good
My son is going to college next year and I was glad he decided to stay in-state. Heck I was relieved he got his applications in by the deadline

DU just confirmed my change. So you are all stuck with me

Cabin #6603

I had a nice sideways cabin for Greece. None available for Venice but I will keep checking. I am sure DU must hate me by now.

I would keep checking periodically on the DCL website and make sure DU knows you prefer a sideways cabin too. We are so far out from the cruise date I would not be surprised if one opened up at some point.

I'm mean mommy... I'm putting the kids across the hall in the inside...... Hey, they should be happy they're going.....

 

[RMOTHERHUBBARD]

Thanks for the response. I will encourage my sister to make reservations.
I am both excited and nervous about sightseeing in the ports on my own with my then 16 year old daughter.

 

[MrsScooby]

Thanks for the response. I will encourage my sister to make reservations.
I am both excited and nervous about sightseeing in the ports on my own with my then 16 year old daughter.

It takes more planning when you do the ports on your own, but we've had mostly great experiences doing it that way. Certain ports we'll go with a private company (with a separate driver and travel guide) and others we'll just get ourselves to where we want to go. The trip reports from past Med cruisers are not only great reads, but great sources of information. I learn so much from the mistakes other cruisers have made as well as from the highlights.

Our daughter will be 16 next year too and we are hoping we can bring her (and my son) along on this trip.

 

[doberlady]

I am a bottled water drinker. Was hoping to bring on a case. Wonder how much water is in Barcelona. Guess we will also hit up a store for wine or something. Can't imagine what our bill will be at the end of 12 nights. I do like me a fruity cocktail

 

[nzdisneymom]

I am a bottled water drinker. Was hoping to bring on a case. Wonder how much water is in Barcelona. Guess we will also hit up a store for wine or something. Can't imagine what our bill will be at the end of 12 nights. I do like me a fruity cocktail

You know it's funny, but I feel different on a port-intense cruise like this one than I do on a Caribbean one... and we find ourselves eating and drinking a bit differently than we do on Caribbean cruises - maybe because we are off the ship more and busy sight-seeing all day and then exhausted when we get back on board

Water in Barcelona will be less than the bottled water on the ship We bought the water package when we sailed the Med in 2007 - the only time we have - and we found we didn't really need it because we were given bottles of water on nearly all of our excursions.

 

[JLSE50]

You know it's funny, but I feel different on a port-intense cruise like this one than I do on a Caribbean one... and we find ourselves eating and drinking a bit differently than we do on Caribbean cruises - maybe because we are off the ship more and busy sight-seeing all day and then exhausted when we get back on board

Water in Barcelona will be less than the bottled water on the ship We bought the water package when we sailed the Med in 2007 - the only time we have - and we found we didn't really need it because we were given bottles of water on nearly all of our excursions.

If I have space in the luggage I bring two empty water bottles. Then on the cruise we do what we do at home--fill them from the faucet, chill them overnight and take them during the day. If we get some on excursions we have more we can reuse. If we don't have space to bring them home we throw them out.

 

[MrsScooby]

If I have space in the luggage I bring two empty water bottles. Then on the cruise we do what we do at home--fill them from the faucet, chill them overnight and take them during the day. If we get some on excursions we have more we can reuse. If we don't have space to bring them home we throw them out.

We've done this as well
and I got another tip from someone on the DIS. You know those drink trays you get at fast food restaurants? They are great to bring along so you can carry multiple drinks back from the drink station to the cabin. I brought 2 of them on our cruise in 2008 and they made it so much easier to bring breakfast to the cabin in the morning without worrying about spilling anything. Then I just threw them away at the end of the cruise. So much easier gettiing the kids up in the morning with the smell of mickey waffles and bacon

Plus it made it easier to make sure I had space to take home souvenirs

 

[nzdisneymom]

We've done this as well
and I got another tip from someone on the DIS. You know those drink trays you get at fast food restaurants? They are great to bring along so you can carry multiple drinks back from the drink station to the cabin. I brought 2 of them on our cruise in 2008 and they made it so much easier to bring breakfast to the cabin in the morning without worrying about spilling anything. Then I just threw them away at the end of the cruise.

Great tip! I know there are times when one of us goes up to the drink station and the others want something brought back - I bet they work well with the ice cream cups, too!

 

[MrsScooby]

Great tip! I know there are times when one of us goes up to the drink station and the others want something brought back - I bet they work well with the ice cream cups, too!

They have those big plastic trays but I am always afraid I am going to spill something in transit
I'll have to try the ice cream cups next time

Dom13 over on the Creative Board made this for us.


(((( editing - I gave her 2012 instead of 2013 - so I've asked if she'll fix it -- the corrected one should still appear here in a bit. ))))

http://www.domthirteen.com/images/CruiseItinerary3.jpg


If I linked it right, it's our itinerary!

Has he fixed the date yet?
I wanted to make an early copy to look at while I research/plan

 

[doberlady]

i just booked the 2 night Magic NYC for this August. Even thought we are doing a week on NCL to Bermuda in July.

it's a Sweet 16 birthday surprise for my daughter. Me, my dd and 2 of her friends. Was cheaper then having a party yet WAY TOO MUCH for a weekend. Oh well. I just I feel guilty for not taking her to Europe LOL

Anyway- Can I re-book the Med on the 2 night cruise for the discount? How does that work having booked the Med with DU?

How much is the discount?

 

[nzdisneymom]

Has he fixed the date yet?
I wanted to make an early copy to look at while I research/plan

It doesn't look like it - I'll PM Dom13 this weekend.

 

[nzdisneymom]

i just booked the 2 night Magic NYC for this August. Even thought we are doing a week on NCL to Bermuda in July.

it's a Sweet 16 birthday surprise for my daughter. Me, my dd and 2 of her friends. Was cheaper then having a party yet WAY TOO MUCH for a weekend. Oh well. I just I feel guilty for not taking her to Europe LOL

Anyway- Can I re-book the Med on the 2 night cruise for the discount? How does that work having booked the Med with DU?

How much is the discount?

How exciting! What a great surprise for your DD!

As for rebooking and such, I would just contact your TA at DU and ask them the best way to handle it, especially if you want them to handle the reservation for you, you'll have to transfer it back to them after you book it onboard anyway. DU can tell you how to do the logistics.