June 29, 2011-10 "MAGICAL" nights in the Mediterranean

[DorothyDamato]

Hey everyone! It sounds like everyone has been busy organizing and getting ready! I am so excited its killing me! I seriously need to stop shopping and look at what I've bought so far!

We got a message from our airline stating that our departure time has been changed for embarkation day so now we are getting in at 10am... Last year we got in and took our time getting to the port, maybe getting to the ship around 2pm, the terminal was empty and we walked right on, it was awesome. Now I'm thinking that we are going to have to deal with crazy crowds and huge lines. If we are CC silver do we get to cut the line a bit??

Also I am very irritated by the VAT tax we now have to pay... When we go out to eat in Spain the menu already has the VAT added to it so we don't even think about it. I'm really not looking forward to paying extra! Thankfully I'm not doing any spa services and the only merchandise I am planning on buying is another cruise ornament but I know we are planning on ordering lots of drinks, oh well, we'll just need to bring more booze on board...

I'm with you - I AM DRINKING! Everything else takes a backseat! Some of those drinks are like candy!

 

[DorothyDamato]

Hello again to all. I am about four pages behind you all again.

Took DS to airport today. His flight was cancelled. Now he loses a day. And I have to send him to laguardia and wait for his transfer to JFK. I know he is 18, he made it to state wrestling and is an eagle scout, but mom still is mom... I guess it was weather in Chicago; they couldn't get the plane here to Columbus. Hope this means that the rest of our family will not have flight issues. This makes me greatful that we go to Barcelona so early. He is bummed, though, so he got to come home and mow the neighbors lawn for his thirty bucks...lol.

We had his French group meeting here wednesday. 3 boys and 6 girls, so he is in a happy place. He can't wait....a month in France and Barcelona and cruise!

My friend just got back from dream...he booked two more cruises...part of his incentive was to be gold. He knows that I am gold now....

I will catch up tomorrow. Can't believe you squeezed Wdw in there before cruise...that is awesome, sinnika. Hope it was awesome.

DH saw email from Dorothy and is fearful that I am on FE list...he remembers my 90 last time...I assured him not.

Watched lion king tonight....so cute to see teen boys turn back to their little boy selves, which is why we are on this cruise....we broke down and saw pirates last week...couldn't wait til cruise. I told them we get to see premear of Cars2 on the boat. So now we need to watch the first!

So Funny about the Disney movies! My daughter is 17 and has been watching them again! Her High School couldnt afford an actual play this year so they did show tunes. They sang Hukunna Matata, Under the Sea, and Be our Guest and they all went nuts!!

Yeah - I think I would want to back out of the FE if there were 90 too! That's nuts! 12 is a good size!

 

[kmc33]

Callihannah posted the following in the "early med cruisers" thread. I tried to quote it from there, but couldn't get it to do it since she answered withing a quote. At any rate, I know there are some others on our sailing wondering about the Day on the Farm. Actually the two she listed the she really enjoyed are the two that we signed up for !

Shore excursions - ship ones - reviews? We did 4 DCL Port Adventures, and two of them earn a "highly recommend" rating. Those were the Day on the Farm in Palermo (not only was the cheese making really fun, they served us a 6-course lunch!!!) and the Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese (the wine tasting was really great, and the owner of the shop who led the tasting was really entertaining).

 

[DCLShel]

We STILL don't have our cruise documents. Anybody else?

We just got ours yesterday. I had called DCL a week or so ago and was told the docs hadn't been sent since we were still GTY. They offered to get us assigned to a room but I told them "no.". I wanted to wait & hope for an upgrade. As of today, we're still GTY. That's what is printed on our luggage tags, too.

 

[DCLShel]

Callihannah posted the following in the "early med cruisers" thread. I tried to quote it from there, but couldn't get it to do it since she answered withing a quote. At any rate, I know there are some others on our sailing wondering about the Day on the Farm. Actually the two she listed the she really enjoyed are the two that we signed up for !

Shore excursions - ship ones - reviews? We did 4 DCL Port Adventures, and two of them earn a "highly recommend" rating. Those were the Day on the Farm in Palermo (not only was the cheese making really fun, they served us a 6-course lunch!!!) and the Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese (the wine tasting was really great, and the owner of the shop who led the tasting was really entertaining).

Thanks for the info, Kim! Laura started a thread to inquire about "the day on the farm" but no responses yet. I'm glad to hear this cruiser liked it so much.

Woohoo! We leave for Barcelona two weeks from today!!!

 

[sinnika]

We had an amazing time! We hit all 4 parks and tried out a few new restaurants at AKL. Suzanne (TBC Chick), our AKL stay was fantastic! You feel so relaxed at that resort! We tried Boma's for breakfast and dinner, and also ate at Saana in Kidani Village! All were great! DD had so much fun touring the parks with all her friends and we enjoyed watching them march on Main Street at MK! Got home late Thursday night (our flight was delayed several hours due to storms in Chicago that affected our Orlando to Houston flight. ) DD made it back on the charter bus yesterday afternoon and she is packing for the cruise this weekend! She leaves Monday for a 2 week JROTC camp and gets back the day before we fly out to Barcelona! She's also packing for her camp too but that's all uniforms and PT gear.
Dorothy, Shelly and Carmella need to get an award for being the most organized! I have a mounting heap of paper! I need to start filing! I have a plastic pocket folder with 10 pockets that I used last year. Just need to find it! (might still be full with lots of info! Here's hoping )
JenDisney (Jen?), how exciting for your DS to be going to France and Barcelona before the trip! We visited Paris and Normandy last year and had such a memorable pre-cruise trip!

 

[sinnika]

Is anyone else waitlisted for late dining? Were you able to get it? I called our TA and we are still early dining. We discussed it as a family and really would prefer the later dining, so if we don't hear from them before we leave, I am going to try to see if we can get it switched when we board. I've usually linked up with another family with kids in same age group by now for dining. Boy, I'm really behind!

 

[thinkoflaura]

did anyone take a look at the 11-day navigators someone posted from the May/June Med cruise? just wondering, i looked through all the pages and couldn't find a mention about the Dessert Buffet. I remember reading that it's kinda hidden on the navigators, and it sure was to me.

if anyone spotted it, please let me know which page - I'd love to see where to look for it on our Navs.

also - question for you Magic/Med vets about the WAVE Phones... do they work from shore to ship - like if we're in Rome and my parents are on the ship? Is it free? I read a whole thread about it once, I know it doesn't ring, just vibrates, but i think it might be a fair alternative to arranging for phones from verizon. (I went to the Verizon store to inquire and the guy there said it would probably be cheaper just buying a prepaid phone in London to use all over Europe. Not sure if I like the hassle of that but I wouldn't mind cutting some corners.) I'm also open to kickin' it "old school" and making due without a phone. Radical, i know!!!

Would love your thoughts!!!

 

[MissReeRee]

Aaaah! Is anyone else feeling totally overwhelmed?? I can't believe we have just over two weeks until we leave!!

I'm getting to the point where I have researched and researched and I'm ready to just say, we'll figure it out when we pull into a port. I cancelled the Zingaro Park tour in Palermo, I just think the kids would be bored. Still doing the Italian countryside and olive oil, although I just realized its from 2-7 so we'll be missing our dinner seating.

Vent over! I am ready to stop planning and get on the ship and relax!

 

[macassi]

Fish Extenders are packaged and ready to go! That was a big check off the to-do list.

DH reminded me that I need updated magnets. Has anyone seen any generic Med magnets that I can download and print? I've tried to search, but I'm not seeing anything.

 

[TPBChick]

also - question for you Magic/Med vets about the WAVE Phones... do they work from shore to ship - like if we're in Rome and my parents are on the ship? Is it free? I read a whole thread about it once, I know it doesn't ring, just vibrates, but i think it might be a fair alternative to arranging for phones from verizon. (I went to the Verizon store to inquire and the guy there said it would probably be cheaper just buying a prepaid phone in London to use all over Europe. Not sure if I like the hassle of that but I wouldn't mind cutting some corners.) I'm also open to kickin' it "old school" and making due without a phone. Radical, i know!!!

Would love your thoughts!!!

I think I am going to go radical. For just two weeks, I don't feel like bothering with getting a phone. I am planning to email my family when I get to Spain. I will leave my hotels' phone numbers and the Disney emergency number with my family just in case they need to contact me.

 

[ga9497]

did anyone take a look at the 11-day navigators someone posted from the May/June Med cruise? just wondering, i looked through all the pages and couldn't find a mention about the Dessert Buffet. I remember reading that it's kinda hidden on the navigators, and it sure was to me.

if anyone spotted it, please let me know which page - I'd love to see where to look for it on our Navs.

also - question for you Magic/Med vets about the WAVE Phones... do they work from shore to ship - like if we're in Rome and my parents are on the ship? Is it free? I read a whole thread about it once, I know it doesn't ring, just vibrates, but i think it might be a fair alternative to arranging for phones from verizon. (I went to the Verizon store to inquire and the guy there said it would probably be cheaper just buying a prepaid phone in London to use all over Europe. Not sure if I like the hassle of that but I wouldn't mind cutting some corners.) I'm also open to kickin' it "old school" and making due without a phone. Radical, i know!!!

Would love your thoughts!!!

Wave phone will not work ashore. Only works ashore in Castaway Cay

The dessert buffet is listed as the Gala buffet under late night snacks on the dining page of the next to last night which was in Villefranche

 

[TPBChick]

I asked a question about the drinking age on another thread. My son will be 17 in July and I will be disappointed if he cannot sample the wines on the Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese tour. I was surprised by the answer that I got. The drinking age on the ship is 18 with parental permission.

 

[ga9497]

I asked a question about the drinking age on another thread. My son will be 17 in July and I will be disappointed if he cannot sample the wines on the Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese tour. I was surprised by the answer that I got. The drinking age on the ship is 18 with parental permission.

Don't know where you got that information but on the first day navigator of this last 11nt sailing it specifically said that drinking age onboard the ship is 21, a valid ID will be required. Basically the room key will show if they are C (child) age 17 and younger, don't remember how it is coded for an 18 year old but it is spelled out in a way that lets the staff know they aren't 21. For anyone 21 and older it will simply say adult on the room key

 

[sinnika]

I went to the Verizon store to inquire and the guy there said it would probably be cheaper just buying a prepaid phone in London to use all over Europe. Not sure if I like the hassle of that but I wouldn't mind cutting some corners.) I'm also open to kickin' it "old school" and making due without a phone. Radical, i know!!!

Would love your thoughts!!!

We have AT&T and just used our reg iphones. Purchased a text package for $10 for 50 texts (I think that was the price), incoming texts were free. We also called a few times at the 99 cent rate per min (also added this to our phone before we left - cost was minimal). The only thing is you have to be careful not to get your phone stolen so that's one advantage to buying a prepaid phone.

I asked a question about the drinking age on another thread. My son will be 17 in July and I will be disappointed if he cannot sample the wines on the Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese tour. I was surprised by the answer that I got. The drinking age on the ship is 18 with parental permission.

Nice and Eze are easy to do on your own. These are the 2 places we plan to visit. If you stay with the excursion, sounds like the amount of wine he would get to sample is pretty minimal from what I read in the reviews so far. For what its worth, when we did the Barcelona to Dover repo last year, DD 15 and I did a DCL tour in Portugal which included wine sampling. They brought out trays of small samples of wines. DD did not partake, but we noticed several younger kids given a sample by the parents. No one monitored at this tour.

 

[TPBChick]

Sorry if I brought up a controversial subject. I was just surprised by the following answer that I received from one of the early Med cruisers and I thought other parents might be interested.

The drinking age on the ship was 18. Kids older than 18 (and less than 21 presumably) did have to get their KTTW cards endorsed with family permission to drink on board. I don't know the specifics of how the Nice and Eze tour handles things but on the Cinque Terre boat trip they offered our 18+ year old kids wine on the trip back without any issues.

 

[ga9497]

Sorry if I brought up a controversial subject. I was just surprised by the following answer that I received from one of the early Med cruisers and I thought other parents might be interested.

The drinking age on the ship was 18. Kids older than 18 (and less than 21 presumably) did have to get their KTTW cards endorsed with family permission to drink on board. I don't know the specifics of how the Nice and Eze tour handles things but on the Cinque Terre boat trip they offered our 18+ year old kids wine on the trip back without any issues.

Not controversial at all just stating what it said on the navigator from this past 11nt sailing. Didn't know there was an option
Click on the magnifying glass to make the page larger
https://picasaweb.google.com/104955...diterranean2011Navigators#5616229322644622930


We let our kids sample wine / beer at home. I was brought up in Italy and were allowed to have a taste of wine from a young age. That type of attitude helped with not caring about sneaking around drinking that most of my friends had in high school because it was never a big deal at home. Friends were strictly forbidden to have a taste of wine / beer at home and that made them want to try it more to see what it was all about. Without being monitored they would over do it. We are teaching our children that it is ok to have a glass of wine or a beer once and a while and if they want to taste no big deal. I would say 75% of the time they decline because they have already tasted it

 

[kmc33]

Aaaah! Is anyone else feeling totally overwhelmed?? I can't believe we have just over two weeks until we leave!!

I'm getting to the point where I have researched and researched and I'm ready to just say, we'll figure it out when we pull into a port. I cancelled the Zingaro Park tour in Palermo, I just think the kids would be bored. Still doing the Italian countryside and olive oil, although I just realized its from 2-7 so we'll be missing our dinner seating.

Vent over! I am ready to stop planning and get on the ship and relax!

YES! I am totally overwhelmed. This morning when it hit me that we leave two weeks from today it ramped up my anxiety level a notch. I need to organize my paperwork, figure out what clothes to pack. I am working on both of those today so hopefully by the end of the day I will be calmer and ready to get on the ship and relax.

DH is working on laying out clothes for DS who leaves for camp next Sunday for a week. DS comes back Saturday night and we leave for BCN on Sunday. I wasn't thrilled about the timing but DH was confident it is no problem. He said DS is young and resiliant... and maybe he will be so tired that he will actully sleep on the flight to BCN.

Wow! I am glad I took a quick break to log on. I feel better after venting. Thanks Rebecca!

 

[DCLShel]

Aaaah! Is anyone else feeling totally overwhelmed?? I can't believe we have just over two weeks until we leave!!

I'm getting to the point where I have researched and researched and I'm ready to just say, we'll figure it out when we pull into a port. I cancelled the Zingaro Park tour in Palermo, I just think the kids would be bored. Still doing the Italian countryside and olive oil, although I just realized its from 2-7 so we'll be missing our dinner seating.

Vent over! I am ready to stop planning and get on the ship and relax!

Rebecca-

I was sitting this morning and just had a sudden need to start a list of things to do! Less than two weeks just sounds so overwhelming (and exciting) to me. My biggest anxiety right now is worrying about the different languages. I've got all the "key" phrases printed (and on my IPod translator) but its intimidating to think I might not be able to communicate with someone. Ugh!

Fish Extenders are packaged and ready to go! That was a big check off the to-do list.

DH reminded me that I need updated magnets. Has anyone seen any generic Med magnets that I can download and print? I've tried to search, but I'm not seeing anything.

Marci-

Send me a PM with your email and I'll send you a couple. I also have a couple with "4th of July" since we'll be on the ship for the holiday.

I would encourage you to check out Shadowryter's thread - she is awesome!!! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2538276

She is really quick on her turnaround time, too - less than a week. You could probably still get some personalized stuff for this trip.

She did some stuff for DD's 12th birthday (celebrating onboard). I love her designs!

 

[thinkoflaura]

Rebecca-

She did some stuff for DD's 12th birthday (celebrating onboard). I love her designs!

when's DD's birthday? My daughter turns 6 on 6/16 and today is my parent's 45th wedding anniversary... they will be with us on the ship - i wonder if we can get a special dessert or character surprise for them on the ship?