May 14, 2011 - Eastbound TransAtlantic

[Winstanik]

I hope after the New Year the thread starts to pick up as the holidays will be past us and we can all build up the anxiety for this trip!

I'm with you on this ! With the holidays coming quickly, I don't have time to dream about the cruise ! But I am getting so anxious for May to come around !

Especially since we got a snow storm on Monday (about 25 centimetres)... And we are expecting another 20 to 30 centimetres next Sunday. So it will be a white Christmas for us !

 

[sehandiph]

Getting excited about the cruise now (not that I wasn't before !)

too many options - I have picked up a few travel guides for the places we stop at (from charity shops) and now looking through them as to what we should do when we are in port. Great bedtime reading.

I have looked at the documentation that I have received from DCL and it doesn't seem to mention which dining option we are on. Also looked round the website and can't find it either. Is there a way of checking without me having to ring the US?

Sharon

 

[owensjro]

I have looked at the documentation that I have received from DCL and it doesn't seem to mention which dining option we are on. Also looked round the website and can't find it either. Is there a way of checking without me having to ring the US?

Sharon

I thought they used to have it on their online check in but last cruise I never managed to find it. This time we used Dreams Unlimited and they have it listed on their cruise info page.

Instead of calling you could maybe try email?

Jim

 

[slcmom]

Hi everybody
I'm still here - just lurking instead of posting. I go to sleep everynight thinking about the trip! Crazy, huh?

In the meantime, I costume, market, and schedule for my brother who does Santa gigs. So it's a busy time around here, not to mention (theoretically) getting this household ready for Christmas! Still no tree; but my ds's are done with finals, so maybe tomorrow they'll haul it in from the garage for me!
Ann

 

[KevieKev05]

It's December 14th, which means we are just 5 months away! Yay!

 

[kcashner]

It's time for me to check in and introduce myself. Hi, I'm Kathryn, and I'm a DCL addict. This will be 20+ sailings on the Magic for me starting with the maiden voyage. I've only been on the Wonder for 7 nights total on a B2B sailing. I don't like short cruises!

I did both crossings in 2010, but my darling daughter was in college. In 2011 the dates fit with her schedule, so we will be sailing together and doing a B2B with the first Med sailing. I've noticed a few people I recognize from 2010 crossings are posting here--nice to see you again!

A couple of you have AMAZING air fares. We're on Disney air (much as I hate it), and I haven't been able to find anything even close in fare for us. Oh well.....

One activity I didn't see on the list that we did on both TAs in 2010 was a book exchange. We did it 2 different ways--one was to meet in the Promenade Lounge on sea days...if you had a book you were finished with you put it on the table, if you saw one you wanted you took it. On the way home, one Dis-er had a canvas bag outside her cabin; same deal--drop in a book and take whatever you wanted. It was probably easier to do the canvas bag method; that way we could swap books any time we wished. In each case at the end of the cruise we donated the books to the crew library. I was there when we gave them to a high ranking CM on the April sailing so I know those did get to the crew.

The ship has a bookshelf in the Cove Cafe where you can check out books; it does tend to be busy on the longer sailings also.

Others have posted info from the 2010 crossings...I'm happy to answer any questions I can.

 

[sehandiph]

Hi Kathryn,

sounds like you are an experienced trans Atlantic sailor

there has been a small discussion on taking books or just ereaders/ talking books - but this sounds good.

I always pack some books to go on holiday and we have a larger weight allowance on our flight to Florida than our flight home from Barcelona (by quite a bit) so swapping books at sea and then donating them to the Crew library sounds great to me.

also on our previous cruise I never had time to find a bookshelf - let alone read a book - mind you it wasn't a 14 day cruise

Sharon

 

[owensamo]

Jim and I both have nooks, and we're considering a third e-reader so we can load one up for Hannah - since she can go through a shelf of books in a week! We're flying ezJet to London, so weight restrictions are tight but we could certainly bring some books down to Orlando for the cruise portion!

I don't know if we'll have adult books to swap, but would anyone be interested in a kids book swap? I'm not sure who we could donate them to at the end - do the kids clubs have a library at all?

 

[sehandiph]

Instead of calling you could maybe try email?

Jim

thanks - found a contact us form today and emailed them - now why didn't I think of that earlier?
Sharon

 

[kcashner]

I don't know if we'll have adult books to swap, but would anyone be interested in a kids book swap? I'm not sure who we could donate them to at the end - do the kids clubs have a library at all?

Early on, there was a nice library (where Ocean Quest is now) with kids books, games, and adult books. Sorry, I don't know if there are any kid books available now. However, there have been instances where officers brought young children (pre-schoolers) on board for long periods.

Another thought--I wonder if DCL could facilitate a donation of kid books to either the children's hospital or a local school (yes, I know it's a Spanish speaking country and most of the books would be in English, but that could be an advantage to them in their language studies). I do know that on the 2010 TA we completed a piece of art which was donated to the local children's hospital....so the connection is already there.

 

[KrisannB]

hello everyone - we are considering taking this cruise

We sailed both the 2010 EBTA and 2010 WBTA and was just looking for the heck of it and the prices are almost too good to pass up. If we come we will have 2 cabins and bring my MIL along with us. I will possibly book this on our upcoming cruise to get OBC stuff.

I wanted to know when the FE cut off date is though as I do not want to miss it.

Thanks!

Krisann

 

[TheCheshireCat]

My Fiance and I will be on this cruise as our Honeymoon. We got engaged on our first disney cruise last May on the Wonder. We will most likely be doing a FE and we are in 6049.

We booked our flight the other day for May 29th back to Canada, it was the best deal to wait the extra day. We're now searching for a hotel to stay at for the extra day, any suggestions?

 

[owensjro]

hello everyone - we are considering taking this cruise

We sailed both the 2010 EBTA and 2010 WBTA and was just looking for the heck of it and the prices are almost too good to pass up. If we come we will have 2 cabins and bring my MIL along with us. I will possibly book this on our upcoming cruise to get OBC stuff.

I wanted to know when the FE cut off date is though as I do not want to miss it.

Thanks!

Krisann

Well, welcome to the cruise....almost.

Not sure we have set a cutoff for the FE yet. I imagine it would be in April? Give everyone a month to prepare or something like that.

Jim

 

[owensjro]

My Fiance and I will be on this cruise as our Honeymoon. We got engaged on our first disney cruise last May on the Wonder. We will most likely be doing a FE and we are in 6049.

We booked our flight the other day for May 29th back to Canada, it was the best deal to wait the extra day. We're now searching for a hotel to stay at for the extra day, any suggestions?

Welcome and congrats!

I know there have been some threads on the main forum about hotels in Barcelona. I didn't really pay attention to them since we aren't staying overnight there but are instead heading up to London. You may want to do a quick search and see if the thread pops up.

Jim

 

[kcashner]

Hotels in Barcelona:

First, DO NOT book them thru DCL. While US hotels give Disney a discount, the European hotels seem to charge Disney their normal rate and then DCL adds their surcharge. In all cases, you could book the hotel cheaper on your own than thru Disney just by going to the hotel's website.

Point 2--the taxi rates in Barcelona are quite confusing. There is a base rate. Then there is a Saturday/Sunday surcharge. And a surcharge for travel to either the cruise port or the airport. We were quite surprised to find that what we were told would be "about 7 Euros" for a ride came to 25 Euros and would have been higher if I had not INSISTED that the driver let us out "right here" at the airport. There was a huge traffic jam, and the driver wanted to sit in it while the meter rolled. Since I'd been there before, I KNEW which side of the airport I wanted, and it was where we already were.

OK, I got our hotels on Priceline in the airport area. One time we were at the Tryp and the other at the Hesperia Tower. Both were VERY nice. Both advertise a free shuttle to/from the airport, however the shuttle from the Hesperia doesn't start till 7 am so if you have an early flight you'll be using an overpriced cab. Also, there is NOTHING near the Hesperia except a metro station; I mean nothing. No restaurants, etc. except in the hotel. The Tryp was far easier--it is right on 3 bus lines and 2 metro lines. The Tryp was a 4*, the Hesperia was a 5* I paid $75 (USD) each time. However, I later found another site where I could have paid $79 at the Hesperia and had a breakfast for 2 included.

Other alternatives--La Rambla area. There are lots of hotels here; you will need to take a taxi to the airport. This is the area where you will have easy access to all the things to see and do in Barcelona. The hotels nearest to the port are VERY nice also, but very costly.

I never found any public transportation from La Rambla or port area to the airport. Either the hotels provided something or you were at the mercy of the cabs. However, except for getting to the ship terminal or the airport, the public transportation system is very good and very easy.

Another point--most hotel rooms are for 2 people ONLY. No "kids free" as in the US. In fact, in most cases you'll have to either get a "family suite" or an additional room if you have more than 2 people. Some of the very upscale places will allow a roll away bed for a child.

 

[sehandiph]

hello and welcome to the cruise and congratulations TheCheshireCat.

love you user name - we live in Cheshire and have two Cheshire cats - I also first got together with my husband at a pub / nightclub called the CheshireCat

Hi KrisannB,

hope you also decide to join us

we are soooo excited - the trip is getting so close.

Sharon & Ian

 

[TheCheshireCat]

Hotels in Barcelona:

First, DO NOT book them thru DCL. While US hotels give Disney a discount, the European hotels seem to charge Disney their normal rate and then DCL adds their surcharge. In all cases, you could book the hotel cheaper on your own than thru Disney just by going to the hotel's website.

Point 2--the taxi rates in Barcelona are quite confusing. There is a base rate. Then there is a Saturday/Sunday surcharge. And a surcharge for travel to either the cruise port or the airport. We were quite surprised to find that what we were told would be "about 7 Euros" for a ride came to 25 Euros and would have been higher if I had not INSISTED that the driver let us out "right here" at the airport. There was a huge traffic jam, and the driver wanted to sit in it while the meter rolled. Since I'd been there before, I KNEW which side of the airport I wanted, and it was where we already were.

OK, I got our hotels on Priceline in the airport area. One time we were at the Tryp and the other at the Hesperia Tower. Both were VERY nice. Both advertise a free shuttle to/from the airport, however the shuttle from the Hesperia doesn't start till 7 am so if you have an early flight you'll be using an overpriced cab. Also, there is NOTHING near the Hesperia except a metro station; I mean nothing. No restaurants, etc. except in the hotel. The Tryp was far easier--it is right on 3 bus lines and 2 metro lines. The Tryp was a 4*, the Hesperia was a 5* I paid $75 (USD) each time. However, I later found another site where I could have paid $79 at the Hesperia and had a breakfast for 2 included.

Other alternatives--La Rambla area. There are lots of hotels here; you will need to take a taxi to the airport. This is the area where you will have easy access to all the things to see and do in Barcelona. The hotels nearest to the port are VERY nice also, but very costly.

I never found any public transportation from La Rambla or port area to the airport. Either the hotels provided something or you were at the mercy of the cabs. However, except for getting to the ship terminal or the airport, the public transportation system is very good and very easy.

Another point--most hotel rooms are for 2 people ONLY. No "kids free" as in the US. In fact, in most cases you'll have to either get a "family suite" or an additional room if you have more than 2 people. Some of the very upscale places will allow a roll away bed for a child.

Thanks so much for the great info, I looked up the Tryp and found some ok prices, nothing as cheap as $75, but still workable. I would like to have the peace of mind knowing I have transportation to the airport. We are saving hundreds on our flight back by waiting the extra day that we are fine paying a bit more for a hotel.

Hello sehandiph, I'm seems like my name would be more fitting for you. I was thinking of my sneaky kitty while choosing my name.

We're really looking forward to getting away for the cruise and everything is coming up so fast. I've been so busy doing wedding planning that I haven't had a chance to really get into doing much trip planning yet.

I was looking at the different excursions, we haven't made any choices yet. Have anyone picked anything yet or any suggestions?

 

[kcashner]

Thanks so much for the great info, I looked up the Tryp and found some ok prices, nothing as cheap as $75, but still workable. I would like to have the peace of mind knowing I have transportation to the airport. We are saving hundreds on our flight back by waiting the extra day that we are fine paying a bit more for a hotel.

?

The way I got the $75 was to book thru Priceline. I selected the Barcelona airport area and 4* level. I don't remember what I used as a starting bid, but was successful at something that ended up being $75 when any fees were added. It is a decent hotel with an OK restaurant in the hotel. I just needed a place to crash and recover from my jet lag when I flew in a day early, but found the transportation options to be great.

 

[TheCheshireCat]

The way I got the $75 was to book thru Priceline. I selected the Barcelona airport area and 4* level. I don't remember what I used as a starting bid, but was successful at something that ended up being $75 when any fees were added. It is a decent hotel with an OK restaurant in the hotel. I just needed a place to crash and recover from my jet lag when I flew in a day early, but found the transportation options to be great.

Oh I looked at priceline again, I've never used it before, didn't notice the spot to bid. I don't know if I would be comfortable doing the bid thing and not knowing what I would end up with. Will probably pay the bit more to know what I am getting.

 

[kcashner]

No problem...I was a little nervous using it for international stuff, but I'd done it for years on US hotels. It did work just fine for the international as well. Good luck with your selection.