May 12, 2007 -- Taking the Magic to the Mediterranean -- 14 day Repo Cruise! Part 2

[BobandLee]

I say let's start a new thread on the DIS Trip reports board. We can keep this one going, but start a new one for all the folks at home! If we feel like chatting that is off topic, we can do it on this thread, otherwise everything about the sailing can go on the Report thread.

Jen

Sounds good.
Seems like there is always atleast one "Live From" thread for a cruise.

 

[DizzneyDAnn]

Why oh why do I feel the need to have a perfectly clean house before I leave??????? I will not even be here to enjoy it, and my kids will have it trashed before I return!

Off to take mt dughter to her first pageant function. Luckily I just have to drop her off. I'm rebelling against make-up today.


DCL would only let me book Scott and Jonathan (5) for the Flaminco dancing, but not me. Weird. I don't want to take Jonathan, but I booked him, just to save a place for me.

Do you think this will be heavy on the wine-production thing? Not my thing, but I want to see the dancing. If it is i wonder if wandering Cadiz that evening would be better. Is there anything in Cadiz that's worth seeing?

 

[Kissimmee]

On the banner...did you ever get an answer for the paint? I know they sell the paint we need at a party supply near my house. It's a dry paint and we add water to it, making it the color we need. It's what banners at schools and such are made out of. However, I don't know how water proof it is...and since it will be ON the ship...any ideas? Or did that get answered somewhere and I missed it?!?!? I get so lost sometimes!!

CQuick and I went to Jo-Anns today and we are trying some things out. Seems that Acrylic paint is the best. We settled on Tyvec House Wrap as a banner material and CQuick is doing some experiments with iron on transfers and paints tonight. we will post the results as soon as we can.

The banner material is 3 foot by any length we need and I will sew up the ends and Grommet them before the party.

 

[tig82174]

Oh my goodness!!

Yet another relatively short bit away from the computer screen and wouldn't you know there's been a flurry of activity, new people, drama....SHEESH!!

So, as usual, I couldn't keep up with everything but here goes a few thoughts in response to posts while I was away from the boards:

--- to our new cruisers! I'm surprised we're still getting new folks....but how exciting....what a huge huge bunch we're going to be!!

--- I am so glad that Chris/Scoobypop asked that question because Jason was just asking me over the weekend, "Erik, what in heaven's name are you going to do when the cruise is over? You won't have any reason to get out of bed in the morning without the Disboards!"

--- Jason and I are wearing our cruise Tshirts & Lanyards to the port and for the entire day....I'm actually very much looking forward to embarkation photos of us in our matching Tshirts

---Re: the magnet drama.....I'm sure glad you guys ironed that out....when I first read it I about had a coronary because Jason and I spent a weekend making cute magnets that I'm very proud of and I was going to put them up even if DCL told me not to!! So I'm very glad that they saw the wisdom in allowing us freaks...er...I mean...."avid fans" ...to put up our door magnets!

---I'm still worried about my fish extender being too big but I have a contingency plan that will allow me to hang it from the door by placing a hook INSIDE the cabin door and then allowing the string holding the extender/message board to hang over the door to the outside. The hook I bought is one of those 3M hooks iwth the removable strip that is guaranteed not to damage paint or walls (and I've used them at home and they work well).....so I hope if I end up using it that won't be a problem.

Otherwise we're just getting really revved up here for the trip. We board a plane for Florida in just.....

10 days!!!

My parents are getting really excited for their leg of the trip with us, too. My mom has been looking at books and deciding what she wants to do, etc. We got the shirts I made for my parents....they're very cool...the image came out smaller than I thought, but it's more for our amusement than anyone else's. I think we'll wear them our first full day all together in the park (Tuesday, May 8th) so I'll take a picture and post it here if we do!



Erik

 

[Kissimmee]

How was Joann's (or Michael's)

I was subbing at McCoy Elementary today. The one on the news for being in LOCKDOWN all day for someone binging a gun on campus!!!

Is there such thing as Hazard Pay for substitute teachers!!!???

We all need a cruise to recharge our sanity... We met and ultimately decided on the Tyvec house wrap I had. 3 foot by an length, virtually indestructible and Cquick is experimenting to see how it takes paint and iron on transfers.

Results to follow.

I think you and I are the only B2B's coming to the party so we may have a banner of our own to do..

 

[ssnyder]

Since I had pretty much decided to do Gibraltar on my own (or with others doing it on their own), I decided I better do some research. What looked best to me was taking the Cable Car up to the top of the rock and walking back down. On the way down I would want to visit St. Michael's Cave, the Barbary Apes and the Great Seige Tunnels.

Does anyone else have that itinerary in mind also?

Disney does have a shore excursion that would allow me to do this ("Explore the Rock on Your Own"). They charge about double what I think the cost would be though. My biggest concern would be getting to the cable car location which they describe as a 10 minute ride. That might be a bit far to walk, so if we do it on our own that might translate into a taxi ride.

 

[gydell]

Since I had pretty much decided to do Gibraltar on my own (or with others doing it on their own), I decided I better do some research. What looked best to me was taking the Cable Car up to the top of the rock and walking back down. On the way down I would want to visit St. Michael's Cave, the Barbary Apes and the Great Seige Tunnels.

Does anyone else have that itinerary in mind also?

Disney does have a shore excursion that would allow me to do this ("Explore the Rock on Your Own"). They charge about double what I think the cost would be though. My biggest concern would be getting to the cable car location which they describe as a 10 minute ride. That might be a bit far to walk, so if we do it on our own that might translate into a taxi ride.

That's what we are doing but also hoping to see the pillars of Hercules and the observatiion point to see Africa. We may rent a cab for the day, since we have a 5yo with us. Does anyone know how much cabs are?

 

[cupcake]

i am again forcing my family to wear the cute disney matching outfits i bought last year...they are so thrilled!

I have abandoned the "no matching stuff" rule that have been in effect for the 23 years that I was either dating or married to my dh, and we have several matching items for the cruise, one of which is . . . shall we say extremely eye-catching!?!? (Laura is the only one who knows the secret ). Let's just say it gives the inflatable parrot/inflatable cutlass his & hers set a real run for its money. So if you want to look sophisticated and dignified, just stand by us!

And yes, one of the matching sets is from cafepress, and we'll be sporting them on May 12!

C.

 

[DizzneyDAnn]

We're doing the Rock Tour in the early AM. It's over at 9:45. Then I think we'll get something to eat and try to get to the seige tunnels, which the tour doesn't include. I must admit, I'm afraid of the cable car, but I would like to walk down the Rock if the tour doesn't do this.

 

[CACruisin']

Wow! What a lot of posts to catch up on!

Welcome, Welcome to all the new cruisers!!! Yay for those that just found out about the cruise (even though "someone" in the family has been busy here already.

Glad the magnet thing has been cleared up.

We will be wearing matching "mickey" wear for the first day. We got "crossing" sweatshirts and I think those will be too warm for the first day. DD's did wear them on the plane home from Pittsburgh today though!

The banner looks like it is really coming together nicely! Thanks to all that are undertaking that project.

Still no docs/magnets yet . I think our cruise is starting to fill up though or at least DCL is filling the lower categories. I was on DCL's website randomly looking at staterooms available for 4:
For Cat 11 - only two show up on deck 6
For Cat 10 - two on deck 2 and a bunch on deck 1 - I think this is the first time I have seen deck 1 stuff show up.
For Cat 6 - lots available.

Need to go do laundry now and try and work on the packing. I had to UNpack stuff for the last minute Pittsburgh trip. I'm thinking it will be easier to just unpack everything and startover again. Otherwise, I'm sure to forget something.

love the comment about MA in "stuff the suitcase" For the Pittsburgh trip we packed in all carryon size bags (tight connection times and didn't want to lose the luggage) so I didn't have the luxury of a lot of extra space. I swear there was room leftover in the suitcases when we flew out, but I think the clothes "grew" in the hotel. I didn't think I was going to be able to get everything back in the bags to go home. Makes me think I need to bring a whole extra empty suitcase for the cruise, not just leave extra room in the bags

 

[CACruisin']

Since I had pretty much decided to do Gibraltar on my own (or with others doing it on their own), I decided I better do some research. What looked best to me was taking the Cable Car up to the top of the rock and walking back down. On the way down I would want to visit St. Michael's Cave, the Barbary Apes and the Great Seige Tunnels.

Does anyone else have that itinerary in mind also?

Disney does have a shore excursion that would allow me to do this ("Explore the Rock on Your Own"). They charge about double what I think the cost would be though. My biggest concern would be getting to the cable car location which they describe as a 10 minute ride. That might be a bit far to walk, so if we do it on our own that might translate into a taxi ride.

I'm planning on doing Gibraltar on our own also. Probably will need a taxi though to the cable car with DD3? I was really interested in taking the older DD's on the lower St. Michael's Cave, but it appears to only be in the evening .

 

[ssnyder]

I was really interested in taking the older DD's on the lower St. Michael's Cave, but it appears to only be in the evening .

Are you sure you want to do the lower cave? This is from Trip Advisor - don't know how accurate of a picture this person is portraying, but it doesn't sound too kid friendly:

"Don't get St Michael's cave and Lower St. Michael's cave confused! We visited St Michael's cave as part of a minibus tour of the upper rock. The leaflet from the tourist info office mentioned that a second cave had been found beneath that, and was called Lower St Michael's cave; according to the tourist info office, Lower St Michael's cave requires "some" rope climbing. This made it sound as if it was mostly leisurely walking with the occasional rope hand-rail! Do not believe a work of it! Lower St Michael's cave was a most terrifying experience! To move between the interconnected chambers in the rock you have to climb down rock faces that are 8 to 20 ft drops. There are few, if any, footholds. Gravity pulls you down and you hold a rope to stop you falling too fast! It is not the "occasional" rope-work that the brochure describes; there are ropes in every chamber. Eventually you arrive at an underground lake. At last, you think, you have finished. No. You now have to walk across the water, standing on a ledge at the edge of the pool. The problem is that halfway round the lake the ledge disappears. How no-one got killed or injured amazes me! Only go if you enjoy rock climbing and wear strong boots. We wore trainers and they simply were not good enough. You will not need thick clothing because you sweat so much from exertion, or is that fear?"

 

[gydell]

I think I'll pass on the lower cave!

 

[meanmommajean]

Hi y'all! My girls and I will be on the Magic when it sails 5/12 and we are so excited!!! We would love to bus it to the pyramids with a group in Tenerife and possibly cable car it to the top of the Rock and walk back to town. We are Mom49, DD15, DD17, DD19 and we are traveling with DSL??, DN18, DN20, DNiece14

 

[CACruisin']

Susie, hadn't seen that review on trip advisor - good info! I still think the older girls would enjoy it and be able to handle it, but everything I've read indicates the tours start late afternoon on weekdays so it doesn't look like it will be an option. I just thought of another consideration. We will have been at sea for 6 days. It is possible (extremely likely) that I/we will have wobbly sea legs when we are finally back on solid ground. Maybe rock climbing type expedition isn't such a good idea after all. (where's the wobbly legged, weaving around smilie?)

Welcome meanmommajean & crew! I'm also leaving DH behind this trip and bringing my 3 girls, but they are younger than yours: DD13, DD11, DD3

 

[kpros]

Hi y'all! My girls and I will be on the Magic when it sails 5/12 and we are so excited!!! We would love to bus it to the pyramids with a group in Tenerife and possibly cable car it to the top of the Rock and walk back to town. We are Mom49, DD15, DD17, DD19 and we are traveling with DSL??, DN18, DN20, DNiece14

Welcome Aboard! If you want to participate in the free name badges and lanyards, I will need the first names of everyone in your group. You may want to go back to page 143 of this thread and read the first post for some general info.

Ken

 

[seaulater]

Hi y'all! My girls and I will be on the Magic when it sails 5/12 and we are so excited!!! We would love to bus it to the pyramids with a group in Tenerife and possibly cable car it to the top of the Rock and walk back to town. We are Mom49, DD15, DD17, DD19 and we are traveling with DSL??, DN18, DN20, DNiece14

WELCOME!

 

[Scott H]

You want me to web cam myself in PANIC mode? How Strange. Now if you thought I said PICNIC that's a great idea I can set up a web cam via Yahoo Messenger and you can all share the Banner Picnic with us. Maybe even a microphone so we can chat as we work..

Have to see if I have the time to fit that in to the schedule.

Party time is Noon, Eastern time zone, April 28th (Saturday)

That would work, no panic please, just for you all to know we are there in spirit.

 

[misseulalie]

Welcome to all the new cruisers!!!

If anyone new is local to Central Florida, please come to our BBQ this Saturday. If you need info, I think you can go to page 143 and get all the info...(am I confusing my threads with the May. 26th cruise?)


Also, we plan on doing Gilbraltar and Canary Islands on our own. I will spend some of the 6 sea days deciding what to do when we get there...

 

[Scott H]

We all need a cruise to recharge our sanity... We met and ultimately decided on the Tyvec house wrap I had. 3 foot by an length, virtually indestructible and Cquick is experimenting to see how it takes paint and iron on transfers.

Results to follow.

I think you and I are the only B2B's coming to the party so we may have a banner of our own to do..

Yes we do, on the sanity issue....

The Tyvec is a great idea and it will stand the test for sure, that is some tough stuff.

Welcome aboard to you new folks that have decided to join us.