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

[milestogo]

PTT - sorry to see you go and good luck!

Seaulater, wow, those FF are really paying off. MAN!

Padalyn, thanks again!

The only serious motion sickness from movement I've see on the Magic was last year when we hit a storm around Cabo. The dining area was empty and my daughter & I were one of the few not affected walking around the ship saying Whoaaaaaaaa.

Erik, was that dancer/show cm who talked to you named Josh?

 

[Scott H]

Linda, great score with the FF miles, good for you. I was bummed we were unable to use ours to get back to DEN or MCO. Oh well London will be fun and AKL is a good thing.

 

[CACruisin']

Just finished booking our airfare through Delta using FF miles. Cost me $32 per ticket. Had to pay taxes I guess. Oh well............

Then we return on Monday, May 28 leaving Barcelona at 7:05 a.m. on Air France arriving in Paris at 9:00 a.m., then leave Paris at 10:15 a.m. headed to Washington DC arriving at 12:35 p.m., then switch back to Delta leaving at 3:45 p.m. arriving SLC at 6:30 p.m., first class tickets were 90,000 miles each

Okay, I spent my wad today $64 total.
Linda

Great Job Linda!! We are confirmed on DL flights SAN-MCO on 5/11 and on 5/26 JFK-SLC-SAN, but still waitlisted for BCN-JFK. The Air France flights only had 2 seats and we need 3. Glad a DIS'er got those 2!

PTT: sorry to see you go, but good luck in your new endevours!

 

[tig82174]

Erik, was that dancer/show cm who talked to you named Josh?

Honestly this is terrible of me ....but I'm awful with names. I often joke that I would forget my own husband's name if it wasn't on our checks!

Anyhow, i don't recall the dance coordinator's name...he looked to be mid 30's, about 6 feet tall or so, light hair, average build (maybe even a hair on the stocky side), and I think i recall him having a goatee on our cruise.

 

[Scott H]

Anybody ever fly on Virgin? If so how strict are they on the carry on allowance???

Might have to start drilling hole in the toothbrushes to save on weight whilst packing for this trip. Seriously I am thinking about renting a tux instead of bringing mine to save on baggage. In the event DCL loads us up with stuff. DCL should think about offering a shipping service to help us get our plunder home.

 

[PrettyInTink]

That sure would make life alot easier. We have always driven to port so we have never had to worry about how many bags we took. I think it would be a great idea for DCL to offer shipping w/insurance available. That would allow me to bring my usual 1 suitcase full of shoes without sacraficing souvineers. I have only ever flown from Montgomery, AL to Hotlanta, GA so I am a complete newbie when it comes to flying. When my husband was explaining flying overseas and airline rules in general I was like WHAT? You mean our bags can only weigh so much? Especially since my bags are usually bursting at the seams. I wonder who we could contact on suggesting that? Or do airports generally have shipping services in them? This is all new to me. I have heard that Virgin is a great airline though (although that might be a bit of Richard Branson tooting his own horn)

 

[PrettyInTink]

As I said in previous post, I have very little flying experience. My dh has flown across country more times than he can count, mostly coach but first class several times. My ??? is how many people are flying 1st class? Friends of ours who fly a lot tell us that's the only way to go, and I don't mind spending the extra $$$ for the comfort. I have pretty long legs and want to be comfy on that long of flight, assuming 1st class has more leg room. My previous flight endeavors only lasted about 30min. My uncle is a capn 4 delta and I used a buddy pass. My parents view on flying was it was too expensive, so we drove every where!

 

[Scott H]

While out doing office stuff I stopped by FedX, and 22 pounds from BCN to Cheyenne would run about $218.00. Shipping may not be an option, getting out dremel tool to remake a toothbrush, priceless well almost.

1st class is great, my dad is retired UAL and BIL is retired Delta, buddy passes are a pain, most of the time, flying non rev is a pain. It is ok if you don't need to be anywhere at a set time and don't mind very early flights, staying at an airport all day, or mind late red eye flights. The price is right, just tough right now when ya gotta be somewhere at a certain time.

Some airlines allow extra baggage allowance for 1st class. The days of 70 lbs for international flights I think have gone the way of the buffalo.

Given the current world events I would expect airfare to take a jump as fuel costs raise.

 

[milestogo]

getting out dremel tool to remake a toothbrush, priceless well almost.

 

[Scott H]

Seriously, just checked out our airfare and it has gone up a little over $60 since I booked it a couple of days ago. I usually don't do this because the fare always goes down.

 

[PrettyInTink]

I suspected an increase, especially since we are going home this weekend. Every time we go home the fuel prices jump. We must be bad luck. We are driving to Savannah next weekend for a little birthday getway for ds (we tried to go disney, but we just went memorial day, and he didn't want to go). Last year our honeymoon cruise in september was right after Katrina. It cost us a FORTUNE to drive to the port and back. We quickly sold our gas guzzling tahoe as soon as we got home before the bottom fell out of the SUV market. Gotta love FedX prices!! Just remember part of that goes to us as we run FedX every week! Unfortunately for the consumer, when fuel prices soar so do shipping costs and so does our pay. We are lucky, as our company pays for our fuel. We used to own our own semi but were literally going broke trying to pay for fuel. Our company became a billion dollar company last year. Wonder why? Higher fuel=higher shipping costs. It really is ridiculous. But hey, we can't swim home from Spain, right? Or maybe we can......Better start training now

 

[Scott H]

But hey, we can't swim home from Spain, right? Or maybe we can......Better start training now

I can see Lynn reading this and saying to you when you meet... "don't give him any more ideas"...

 

[tig82174]

Anybody ever fly on Virgin? If so how strict are they on the carry on allowance???

Might have to start drilling hole in the toothbrushes to save on weight whilst packing for this trip. Seriously I am thinking about renting a tux instead of bringing mine to save on baggage. In the event DCL loads us up with stuff. DCL should think about offering a shipping service to help us get our plunder home.

I'm glad I'm not the only person already stressting out about packing!!

Honestly Jason and I are pretty light packers usually. I'm really big on packing efficiency so I force him (and myself) to only bring clothes that match a certain color so we don't need to bring brown AND black shoes, belts, socks, etc. and we try to share as much as we can or decide what do we NOT need to bring (like we never bring my hairdryer or shampoo or soap because it just takes up space and weight ). I do this not only b/c I hate carrying heavy bags but because I actually hate CHECKING bags. We have always used those vaccuum bags that help you cram a lot of stuff into a small space...so that we can travel each with a rolling carry on and a back pack and carry ALL our luggage onto the plane so we don't have wait at baggage claim, etc.

Clearly this trip that isn't going to work....so we have been thinking about packing, too....in fact we don't even OWN large suitcases....we have to buy some!

But we're definitely renting tuxes from that link that was posted earlier on this board to save us that trouble and we're going to start getting creative about how to pack and have room for goodies, etc.

Gosh planning this trip is a full time job.......now if I could just figure out how to get paycheck and health benefits for it I'd be all set!!

 

[tig82174]

As I said in previous post, I have very little flying experience. My dh has flown across country more times than he can count, mostly coach but first class several times. My ??? is how many people are flying 1st class? Friends of ours who fly a lot tell us that's the only way to go, and I don't mind spending the extra $$$ for the comfort. I have pretty long legs and want to be comfy on that long of flight, assuming 1st class has more leg room. My previous flight endeavors only lasted about 30min. My uncle is a capn 4 delta and I used a buddy pass. My parents view on flying was it was too expensive, so we drove every where!

First class rocks....I've only ever ended up in it by accident from overbooking or free upgrades...but it's definitely more comfortable. We're definitely not flying first class, though because the cost difference between that and coach is probably equivalent to the cost of our verandah on the boat or a couple of shore excursions!! hehehe

 

[tig82174]

Seriously, just checked out our airfare and it has gone up a little over $60 since I booked it a couple of days ago. I usually don't do this because the fare always goes down.

Just out of curiosity...becasue we haven't booked our flight(s) yet....where are you finding the luggage requirements? Is there a "standard" for all international flights or are you getting the info from the airline? What are the standards you're seeing out there in terms of number of allowable bags and weights?

 

[PrettyInTink]

I forgot about shampoo!! My haircare products probley weigh 30lbs! I usually pack dresses for dinner that are fairly light and wrinkle free fabric. I rarely ever bring jeans or any other denim so that should help on weight right? My mantra is going to be Mix and Match pieces for dinner. My shoes are always the killer though. I'll just have to narrow down. 1 pair nikes, 1 pair crocs, 1 pair dress shoes (yeah right ) That one always gets me because I buy shoes specifically for the cruise. So I have 4 or 5 pairs of dress shoes that I HAVE to take. then I am a freak about under wear. My mom's "don't get caught with dirty drawers" comment really sunk in. Now I swear I pack every pair of underwear I own "just in case". I am already thinking of all the stuff we can buy in Spain I love to shop. What is the weather like in the middle of the ocean in May? Are we gonna need cool weather clothes? That could definitely add some weight!! I have seen people literally wear the same thing every night to dinner on the cruise. That would definitely take the guess work out of it. But wouldn't your clothes be funky after 14 days though? Anywho, we will most likely fly 1st class. I figure this is a once in a lifetime trip for us so might as well. We live frugally all year long so we can party on vacay. ScottH if you swim home from Spain I will personally be your publicity manager what with all the book deals and television appearances afterwards. Heck, you might even make it into a disney feature film a la 8 Below or something. I can see the movie trailer already: "Cruise passenger bravely goes where no man has gone before in an epic tale of survival and frugality...."

 

[Scott H]

Usually it is two checked bags, 50lbs each, total dimension of 62". One carry on. Some airlines will allow a personal item, i.e. computer bag, umbrella, purse, etc... Delta and others used to allow 70 lbs for international flights. It is best to check with the airline you are using to get the correct info. Yes they will really zing ya if you are over allowance.

It is the extra clothes and shoes for Formal Nights, that seems to add weight, and then there are the Pirate outfits. If it weren’t for those thing I could get by a lot lighter.

Then if DCL gives us some Kewl goodies. I.e. a Ducky Print.. Remember to pack a mailing tube to protect it on the way home. (need to remember that for the 11 night cruise.)

Will plan on doing more laundry and maybe leaving some stuff at home, i.e. Tux and laptop, have a portable CD burner and a portable hard drive for digital photo storage.

Also folks remember if you are bringing electrical stuff, and are spending any time on the continent, you may want to get a voltage converter.

 

[Scott H]

ScottH if you swim home from Spain I will personally be your publicity manager what with all the book deals and television appearances afterwards. Heck, you might even make it into a disney feature film a la 8 Below or something. I can see the movie trailer already: "Cruise passenger bravely goes where no man has gone before in an epic tale of survival and frugality...."

 

[PrettyInTink]

Dh says if you throw in some dolphins that you befriend that lead you home we may have an acadamy award winner on our hands. Oh the imagination we have as we ride down these same roads week after week.....It gets really boring. It gives me plenty of time to obsess over vacations. How much is the charge if you go over on luggage? Dh says why don't we all get together and charter a private jet? He was kidding but I said "Sure I'll call my buddy TOM CRUISE and get right on that!" What do you guys think? We can swing it, if we win the POWERBALL!!!!!! Dh says that if we win the lottery we are gonna book the whole ship and ENJOY! Can you even imagine? Private shows, private dining, it would be kind of lonely to me.

 

[tig82174]

Usually it is two checked bags, 50lbs each, total dimension of 62". One carry on. Some airlines will allow a personal item, i.e. computer bag, umbrella, purse, etc... Delta and others used to allow 70 lbs for international flights. It is best to check with the airline you are using to get the correct info. Yes they will really zing ya if you are over allowance.

It is the extra clothes and shoes for Formal Nights, that seems to add weight, and then there are the Pirate outfits. If it weren’t for those thing I could get by a lot lighter.

Then if DCL gives us some Kewl goodies. I.e. a Ducky Print.. Remember to pack a mailing tube to protect it on the way home. (need to remember that for the 11 night cruise.)

Will plan on doing more laundry and maybe leaving some stuff at home, i.e. Tux and laptop, have a portable CD burner and a portable hard drive for digital photo storage.

Also folks remember if you are bringing electrical stuff, and are spending any time on the continent, you may want to get a voltage converter.

Yeah it really looks like our best flight is going to be in Iberia through Orbitz.com.....so I have to research the luggage limitations....I was looking at the Iberia website and it looks like it said that the limit was 66lb....but it kinda looked like it was 66lb TOTAL!!....which is NUTS!! If that's the case then i pity whoever has to sit with us at dinner cuz we'll be that funky couple wearing the same thing every night......like Tom Cruise in the film Castaway!

We were able to buy a mailing tube onboard last year when we won our ducky sketches.

we'll have to do some research. I"m curious....how were you able to book a flight aboard delta from spain? do they fly internationally? do you ahve to book directly with them for that? Because none of the lowfare websites like travelocity or orbitz are showing flights with delta as an option.