Just back from EB Med cruise-happy to answer questions

[sandyneck]

Hi everyone,
just returned from a great cruise. I know before I left I had tons of questions, but no one to answer them, since this had never been done. I will be glad to answer any question I can. I know there have been a lot of questions about upgrades, so I will give my experience. We booked a cat 12 and were upgraded to a Cat 9 which was great, when we boarded, we asked if any balconies were available. We were sent to the end of the check in desk to get a price. Some people had said they would give you a price to upgrade from your assigned cat, which would have been a 9, but they gave us the price from the 12, which was $1900.00. We said no, but just before we were going to board, my husband said he wanted to get it for me for our anniversary, which we were celebrating on the cruise! I did not argue, but did feel kind of guilty. After the third day at sea I thought it was the best anniversary present I could have had!!
Instead of posting everything that went on, I will answer specific questions if you have any.

 

[vegs1]

Glad to hear you had a great time. You must hate being back! We have booked the late dinner but am wondering if the earlier would be better for fitting in the deck parties and such. We were thinking late would be good so that we would have time to get back from excursions in Rome, etc. but am wondering what we may miss by doing so. Thanks for the help.

 

[sandyneck]

The deck parties usually start at 9:45, but not really get going till about 10. We had 6pm seating and were usually done by 7:30, so if you had 8:30, you should be done in time. The parties were fun, but I would pick a few extra hours in Rome over the parties any day!!

 

[Herclover]

Who was the captain?

 

[sandyneck]

It was Captain Tom, sorry, never got his last name. He was about the ship quite a bit and he was very nice and personable.

 

[faireygod mother]

DO you kow if you can use your onboard credit when you exchange money?

 

[cruiseletters]

How was the food onboard I have read a few comments that some were dissapointed in the dining on the 14 day cruise?

 

[sandyneck]

I don't know about using onboard credits to exchange money. That is a good question.
Regarding the food, this was our first Disney cruise, we have been on RCL, Carnival and Norwegian for a total of 8 cruises. I thought the food was good, althougth it seemed like they had the same thing on the menu everynight only with a different name: beef,lamb,fish, and some seafood medley thing. I was disappointed in the desserts, but I am crazy for desserts so that may just have been me. None that I had were stand out desserts. Now, that said, I am not complaining. Everything was cooked to perfection and tasted great. It is difficult on a 14 day cruise not to get tired of the food. I never had anything I didn't like or had to send back. One thing Disney could not seem to do very well, which isn't really a big deal, is waffles and pancakes. They were downright awful, and I am a big waffle fan, so that was a small disappointment. Although, in Barcelona they sell the yummiest waffles in the world at the icecream shops. They are like nothing I have ever tasted. I will miss those!!! All in all, for a 14 day cruise the food was very good and we never went hungry, thats for sure!!

 

[scrapycruiser]

Sandyneck...Congrats on your anniv. and your sweet husband getting that verandah cabin ! Wow! I was wondering about laundry service on the ship. How much is it and how long does it take to get things back ? Also, what was the Party Paridiso ? Did the dining rotation start the night you boarded ? Thanks ! GINA

 

[BearFan]

We're on the WB repo and are debating about traveling with our laptop. Has anyone had any experience flying overseas with one? We're booked on Aer Lingus from Chicago through Dublin to Barcelona.
Thanks!

BearFan

 

[sandyneck]

Gina, thanks for the congrats, I am one blessed woman As soon as we got on board I filled my laundry bag for pressing only, which is half the cost of laundry. It was returned the next day. The $30.00 was well worth the time saved in the tiny laundry area with a hot iron, plus we had 2 tuxes and a bunch of other stuff that needed pressed. The laundry rooms always had a line, and by always, I mean even at 2am!! For regular laundry service it was 2 days, but you could pay extra and get it back the next day. I did not go to the Paradiso Party, but heard it was basically a dance party with the characters.
The dining rotation did start the day you boarded. It will be on your key to the world card. I wanted to be in Parrot Cay for pirate night, so I changed our rotation at Rockin Bar D, along with getting our Palo reservation which I could not get online. I had also requested a table for four, and ended up with a table for six,but with just us, so it was nice to have the bigger table.
BearFan-we saw lots of people with laptops, but we just used the internet cafe to check our email and such. If you don 't mind carrying it, I don't think it should be a problem, just like having a carryon. Speaking of carryons, no matter how long our trip we all just travel with one carryon a piece because we hate to check luggage. Be advised, that non US carriers have weight restrictions and size restrictions. A normal size US carryon will not be allowed on board, so if you are planning to carryon, make sure it is the size of a small duffel bag.

 

[jns]

We're on the WB repo and are debating about traveling with our laptop. Has anyone had any experience flying overseas with one? We're booked on Aer Lingus from Chicago through Dublin to Barcelona.
Thanks!

BearFan

just to let you know Aer Lingus are charging per bag at the moment extra

 

[BearFan]

just to let you know Aer Lingus are charging per bag at the moment extra

Thanks for the info. Are they charging for the carry-on or per piece of checked luggage?

BearFan

 

[ejw]

did you do any of the disney excursions?

 

[sandyneck]

We did do the tour to Jerez to see the Dancing Horses. That was very nice and worked out well. We saved a ton of money in Gibraltar by just walking off the ship and getting our own "Tour of the Rock" The driver takes you up to each of the sites and lets you spend some time at each one. It was 20 euros per person. We stayed in Barcelona a few days, so we just did things on our own. We went to the zoo and aquarium, the first I highly recommend, the second is not worth it in my opinion. The metro is very easy to use and a great way to get around. Hope this helps

 

[seaulater]

did you do any of the disney excursions?

We did the city tour with the wine cellars in Barcelona and really enjoyed it. It was about 5 hours in length. We left the ship about 9 a.m. and got back at 2 p.m.

That is the only tour we did that would apply to the other Med. cruises as the rest of the ports aren't being visited again until August.

 

[Izza]

Can you tell me what the schedule was like for dinners/dress? I know the westbound will probably have the order shifted, but I'm trying to figure out what to pack. I know we'll have a formal night, semi-formal night and Pirate night. Anything else I need to plan for?

 

[disneymom7851]

thanks for the great report. SHort and to the point. I am glad you had a good time. I have become weary reading some of the reports that are just long and go into every small detail, better left for personal diaries.

I was also glad to hear you had a great time for your anniversary. what a special way to spend it.

One question - did you see any of the shows. How was Twice Charmed?

 

[sandyneck]

Izza,
We had a Pirate Night, two formal nights and one semi formal night. Originally, people were told there would be two semi formal nights and one formal, but they changed it. I would have liked to have had a different formal dress, but I just wore the same one twice My husband and son have tuxes, so they were happy to get another chance to wear it. You can usually call once your cruise gets closer and find out the schedule. Formal nights are always at sea.
As far as shows, we saw Twice Charmed and thought it was great. The new When Mickey Dreams show is quite interesting and has a definite Cirque feel to it. I am not sure why they felt the need to add a hellish scary for toddlers villian act into it, so be prepared if you have small kids. The acrobats were amazing!! We also saw Golden Mickeys and Disney Dreams. Both were good, but I think Disney Dreams was my favorite. We did not go to any of the performer shows, such as magic or illusions, but I heard they were quite good
We did go to lots of movies in the Buena Vista theater. They usually had a movie around the same time as the show, so if you didn't want to go to the show, you could still have some after dinner entertainment. They also had several family game shows after dinner also. Lots to do, that is for sure!

 

[mickg7dyd]

We're on the WB repo and are debating about traveling with our laptop. Has anyone had any experience flying overseas with one? We're booked on Aer Lingus from Chicago through Dublin to Barcelona.
Thanks!

BearFan

Hi,
I took my laptop with me on the repo cruise and had no problems having it in my carry on (flights with Virgin Atlantic & BA) I had to remove it from it's bag for security. I have to say though I found the wireless connection on the ship to be very slow and as they charge by the minute it can get quite expensive. Not sure if you know but wireless access is available in staterooms now. I used the desktop pc's on one occasion and they did seem a little bit faster.
Hope this helps.

Mick.