May 18, 2013 MAGIC EBTA - Who is with us?

[MandyGirl]

I've stayed at a hotel by Houston Hobby as well as a couple hotels downtown (Four Seasons and Hyatt Regency) with no issues. If you do use a rental car, bring all luggage to your room though... just in case. Reason: I had a friend have his bag stolen from his vehicle in Canada -- on his way to the airport while dining at a restaurant. It can happen anywhere. (And he had left his passport in his bag in the side pocket -- so then he had to deal with all that. Fortunately he had left a copy with his wife. I always make sure I have a copy of all of our passports somewhere virtually - like a Yahoo email account or Dropbox so it can be accessed from any computer.)

 

[Tubbsteruk]

I'll be right behind you at liquor store Carla

On the wbta a lot of us stocked up at local supermarket in Gibraltar, what a sight, we were taking our suitcases off ship to fill up

At night those of us who had kids and couldn't access adult only areas would bring a bottle up to deck 9 then it was just share galore, good times

It was busier than some bars on deck 9 some nights

The hangovers the next day were a problem. Must remember to pick up headache tablets at the same time as the booze this time

 

[valbob89]

I'll be right behind you at liquor store Carla

On the wbta a lot of us stocked up at local supermarket in Gibraltar, what a sight, we were taking our suitcases off ship to fill up

At night those of us who had kids and couldn't access adult only areas would bring a bottle up to deck 9 then it was just share galore, good times

Thank you for the great Idea to bring a suitcase. On Gibraltar we packed back bottles in grocery bags from Morrisons - it was tough but you gotta do what you gotta do.

We LOVED the wine in Barcelona and the fact it cost next to NOTHING. Now trying to find a cartoon of milk was a different matter. And if you ask for a glass of cold milk with your meal they will look at you as if you were asking for a glass of sewer water. Even at the hotel we'd get a glass of their boxed milk and a glass of ice. The other culture difference was that coffee shops don't open until after 9:00 a.m and banks are open from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm. Of course you can get dinner at 2:00 a.m.

 

[valbob89]

The October Hawaii cruise has ordered 100 group shirts, including kid sizes. I've asked Mark and the shirt company to give me the measurements of the kid shirts so we can decide if they would work for our cruise.

 

[MandyGirl]

There we actually a DIS Excursion to Morrison's in Gibraltar!

I'm like you Val - loved everything in Barcelona. We are definitely looking forward to a few nights there between cruises. There is so much we didn't get to see last time! (I've already picked out lunch at our favorite sangria place... and hope we watch the Magic sail away from the castle later that day!)

 

[padalyn]

There we actually a DIS Excursion to Morrison's in Gibraltar!

I'm like you Val - loved everything in Barcelona. We are definitely looking forward to a few nights there between cruises. There is so much we didn't get to see last time! (I've already picked out lunch at our favorite sangria place... and hope we watch the Magic sail away from the castle later that day!)

share please? My fiance is visiting Barcelona for the first time, and I would like to impress her a bit!

Cayla

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

I have my travel agent looking for a room for the night before we all leave. I have been told that we do not want to stay in Houston, but the agent says we will be fine...so - to that end - are there any areas that we want to stay clear of?

Also - we will need to get to a Walmart and a liquor store to buy wine and hard liquor.

I am not thinking of taking a GPS with us - should I?

Cayla

You're in luck, we have an awesome chain of liquor stores in Houston called Spec's. There's a huge (and I mean humongous) one near downtown Houston, and several others around the city. They have EVERYTHING! I'm pretty sure there's one on the island, if not, I know there's one about a mile off the freeway in Clear Lake (about 25 minutes north of the island). There's a Walmart somewhere on the island, but there's a Target right as you cross the causeway.

As for places to stay, Downtown is nice, The Galleria is nice, south of the Beltway 8 is good, midtown is good depending on where exactly. Just avoid anywhere along 145 between downtown and the Beltway, unless it's near Hobby.

 

[MandyGirl]

share please? My fiance is visiting Barcelona for the first time, and I would like to impress her a bit!

Cayla

Good... AND affordable! Just a block in walking distance from Placa Catalunya, and you can dine indoors or out (we did both). You can also do the metro stop at Passeig de Gracia to get there. It is an easy walk to Casa Batlló from there as well (at least for us.... and we had a child turning five and a 15-month-old in a sling around my shoulders - no issues!).

Reviews (ranked # 18 of 3571 restaurants in Barcelona as of today):
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...eviews-Ciudad_Condal-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

Tapas and sangria..... yummy!

I am sure others have Barcelona favorites to share -- would love to hear them! This was just one we researched ahead of the trip, tried it, and went back again.

 

[kaseyC]

Barcelona is fabulous. If you or anyone in your family plays soccer or is a fan, you must visit Camp Nou, the stadium and museum of the FC Barcelona team. It's really cool and very interactive. Easy to get to on the metro as well.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/camp-nou

I also recommend veering off the tourist track and try some of the neighborhood restaurants and cafes. We had some amazing meals at these little hole in the wall places near the place we stayed. We stayed at Apartments Casp 74, perfect for larger families. Very similar to a Residence Inn. Full service hotel with apartment style units. We had a 2 bed 3 bath unit. It was great for our family of 5. The location was great too, not too far from Plaça Catalunya and a metro stop.

http://www.apartmentscasp74.com/

 

[kaseyC]

There we actually a DIS Excursion to Morrison's in Gibraltar!

I'm like you Val - loved everything in Barcelona. We are definitely looking forward to a few nights there between cruises. There is so much we didn't get to see last time! (I've already picked out lunch at our favorite sangria place... and hope we watch the Magic sail away from the castle later that day!)

Mandy, where are you cruising to after the TA?

 

[MandyGirl]

Barcelona is fabulous. If you or anyone in your family plays soccer or is a fan, you must visit Camp Nou, the stadium and museum of the FC Barcelona team. It's really cool and very interactive. Easy to get to on the metro as well.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/camp-nou

I also recommend veering off the tourist track and try some of the neighborhood restaurants and cafes. We had some amazing meals at these little hole in the wall places near the place we stayed. We stayed at Apartments Casp 74, perfect for larger families. Very similar to a Residence Inn. Full service hotel with apartment style units. We had a 2 bed 3 bath unit. It was great for our family of 5. The location was great too, not too far from Plaça Catalunya and a metro stop.

http://www.apartmentscasp74.com/

Thank you!!

Mandy, where are you cruising to after the TA?

Pending hubby's vacation time approval that we should learn in August, a 12-night cruise from Barcelona to Venice. We looked at doing the B2B for June 1 on Magic, but we are wanting to see more ports than what DCL offered. This one will be very port intensive, and we have never been to these ports previously. (Toulon, Florence/Livorno, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus/Izmur, Athens, overnighting in Venice). A risk to take with children doing that many ports, but we will modify so it is not overwhelming. (Plus, they're pretty good travelers.) Otherwise, if vacation is not approved we will look at other options, such as the B2B or spending time in one area before flying home. Luckily I have someone who loves to house-sit when we travel, so less worries there!

What are you guys doing post-cruise?

 

[kaseyC]

Pending hubby's vacation time approval that we should learn in August, a 12-night cruise from Barcelona to Venice. We looked at doing the B2B for June 1 on Magic, but we are wanting to see more ports than what DCL offered. This one will be very port intensive, and we have never been to these ports previously. (Toulon, Florence/Livorno, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus/Izmur, Athens, overnighting in Venice). A risk to take with children doing that many ports, but we will modify so it is not overwhelming. (Plus, they're pretty good travelers.) Otherwise, if vacation is not approved we will look at other options, such as the B2B or spending time in one area before flying home. Luckily I have someone who loves to house-sit when we travel, so less worries there!

What are you guys doing post-cruise?

Great itinerary! The kids will do fine, just build in lots of gelato stops!!

We've done port intensive European cruises the past two summer, Western Med in 2011 and Eastern Med a few weeks ago. We've stuck to mainly DIY and private drivers and tour guides because of the ability to tailor the ports days for our kids. For our family of 5 it turned out to be more cost effective too.

Next summer we are doing a Baltic cruise on NCL after the EBTA. DH and DD16 will meet us in Copenhagen on June 1st and we sail on the 3rd.

 

[MandyGirl]

Great itinerary! The kids will do fine, just build in lots of gelato stops!!

We've done port intensive European cruises the past two summer, Western Med in 2011 and Eastern Med a few weeks ago. We've stuck to mainly DIY and private drivers and tour guides because of the ability to tailor the ports days for our kids. For our family of 5 it turned out to be more cost effective too.

Next summer we are doing a Baltic cruise on NCL after the EBTA. DH and DD16 will meet us in Copenhagen on June 1st and we sail on the 3rd.

Great advice!! Anywhere you would suggest NOT doing it DIY? And btw - Can't have enough gelato! Also, we actually looked at that cruise out of Copenhagen! We've done a few NCL cruises (even married while on one!), and have no qualms cruising with them again. Definitely going after the ports on this one! I am trying to wait until September when the new Rick Steves' Med book comes out - I have some serious work to do on those ports. Hubby is more of the history buff, so if he can figure out what he wants to see, I am the researcher/planner. Our neighbors just returned from a month in Italy, and oh my, their pictures, immersion into the local villages and culture, sights... wow....

 

[MandyGirl]

This is a fantastic link that is kept updated here on DIS that explains a lot of DCL things. Well worth some bedtime reading material, complete with hyperlinks for further details, pictures, etc. and is great for newbies or as a refresher! (Last updated June 2012)

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2068966

 

[kaseyC]

Great advice!! Anywhere you would suggest NOT doing it DIY? And btw - Can't have enough gelato! Also, we actually looked at that cruise out of Copenhagen! We've done a few NCL cruises (even married while on one!), and have no qualms cruising with them again. Definitely going after the ports on this one! I am trying to wait until September when the new Rick Steves' Med book comes out - I have some serious work to do on those ports. Hubby is more of the history buff, so if he can figure out what he wants to see, I am the researcher/planner. Our neighbors just returned from a month in Italy, and oh my, their pictures, immersion into the local villages and culture, sights... wow....

We've done quite a few NCL cruises too. As a matter of fact, the NCL Epic's Inaugural TA crossing from Southampton to NYC was Hailey's and Hillary's first non DCL cruise. 7 straight sea day, no ports. They loved it. My DH absolutely loves the whole freestyle dining and dress code.

I would avoid DIY in the larger cities like Rome and Athens. We had an overnight in Venice too, we did a great walking tour with Walks of Italy.

Once you find out about your husbands vacation time, let me know and I will be happy to share all of my Med planning stuff. I can email you a bunch of stuff.

 

[MandyGirl]

We've done quite a few NCL cruises too. As a matter of fact, the NCL Epic's Inaugural TA crossing from Southampton to NYC was Hailey's and Hillary's first non DCL cruise. 7 straight sea day, no ports. They loved it. My DH absolutely loves the whole freestyle dining and dress code.

I would avoid DIY in the larger cities like Rome and Athens. We had an overnight in Venice too, we did a great walking tour with Walks of Italy.

Once you find out about your husbands vacation time, let me know and I will be happy to share all of my Med planning stuff. I can email you a bunch of stuff.

Ahhh.... bless you... that would be FANTABULOUS!!! I will definitely let you know.

What did you think of the Epic? Curt's uncle has been on it twice for transatlantic crossings, and enjoyed it. His first cruise was actually our wedding cruise, and we got him and Curt's late aunt hooked on cruising. (So glad she got to enjoy cruising some before her surprise late-state cancer diagnosis.) NCL is also who we were on when we married on St John (USVI), and although we booked everything with the wedding/reception independent of the ship, the concierge was amazing for us onboard (Alex maybe?). Literally every crewmember knew us as "the wedding couple", and the spa staff really took care of us. NCL was also our first cruise and an we also did NCL for an aft balcony for Alaska - again both stellar experiences on NCL. We've done HAL and Celebrity as well about 5 times and enjoyed those as well. So many options out there, and for Europe, we're all about the ports. The EBTA is all about the onboard experiences for our daughters -- we just tag along.

 

[kaseyC]

Ahhh.... bless you... that would be FANTABULOUS!!! I will definitely let you know.

What did you think of the Epic? Curt's uncle has been on it twice for transatlantic crossings, and enjoyed it. His first cruise was actually our wedding cruise, and we got him and Curt's late aunt hooked on cruising. (So glad she got to enjoy cruising some before her surprise late-state cancer diagnosis.) NCL is also who we were on when we married on St John (USVI), and although we booked everything with the wedding/reception independent of the ship, the concierge was amazing for us onboard (Alex maybe?). Literally every crewmember knew us as "the wedding couple", and the spa staff really took care of us. NCL was also our first cruise and an we also did NCL for an aft balcony for Alaska - again both stellar experiences on NCL. We've done HAL and Celebrity as well about 5 times and enjoyed those as well. So many options out there, and for Europe, we're all about the ports. The EBTA is all about the onboard experiences for our daughters -- we just tag along.

Mandy, your family sounds a lot like ours. We love to cruise and have never had a bad cruise on any line. We loved the Epic, we sailed it last summer for our Western Med cruise out of Barcelona and the TA the year before. It's not the most attractive ship on the outside but the entertainment options are fabulous.

 

[MandyGirl]

I hope everyone had a wonderful "hump day"!!

 

[MandyGirl]

Mandy, your family sounds a lot like ours. We love to cruise and have never had a bad cruise on any line. We loved the Epic, we sailed it last summer for our Western Med cruise out of Barcelona and the TA the year before. It's not the most attractive ship on the outside but the entertainment options are fabulous.

Ditto that on never having a bad cruise! I always say each day we get the privilege of waking up, it's a great day, no matter where we are! And the memories our kiddos are building are oh so worth it.

 

[ThaMartin]

Hi guys,

For we live in the Netherlands and go to DLP often, I might have some tips for those of you who're looking for a stay at DLP afterwards.

The most important one might be this: If you're looking for a stay of more than 2 days, it might already be cheaper to buy an anual pass than per day-tickets. There are two types of passes available for people who live outside France:

Fantasy (€139.-) - 65 Blockout dates, 10% disc on Hotels, Souvernirs & Food + Free parking (and some minor stuff)

Dream (€199.-) - No Blockout dates, up to 40% disc on Hotels, 20% on Souvernirs, 10% on Food, Free parking, Free Stroller & Weelchair rental, One-hour early entry to the parks (and some minor stuff)

Both passes are valid for both parks in Paris and depending on the amount of money you'll be spending on souvernirs, Disney hotels and whether or not you want this early entry, you can choose whichever fits you. On dlp.info (sorry, can't post direct links yet because of my post count) you can find more information about this!