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

[Tink1987]

Hi all!

Wow, haven't posted in around 6 weeks, how is everyone?

People seem to be getting really organised now, I'm getting left behind ;-) I've found great flight prices for us to Houston, just waiting until payday to book them. Also changed our pre-cruise plans, I think we are just gonna spend a couple of nights in Galveston instead of Houston. I personally think landing at 1pm on the Thursday 16th will be too hectic to see Houston and then get down to Galveston. Think we are going to book the Holiday Inn in Galveston as you get complimentary cruise port transfers.

We visited London last weekend for the last weekend of the Olympics, was a fantastic day and I am proud of my country for making the Games so great. Added photo link below for anyone who is interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markcollettephotos/sets/72157631039713848/

Off to Amsterdam next weekend, and then Berlin and Budapest within 4 weeks as well. Very excited to see all those cities!

Hoping you can all help me with a couple of questions I have as well about our cruise. We have started to think about how much money to take etc and how to spend onboard. Is it possible to put one of those pre-paid cards 'behind the desk?' We always take these pre-paid cards loaded with dollars before our US holidays normally and hoping to do the same for this cruise.

Also, can anybody give me a rough estimate of how much we can expect to spend in the 2 weeks for the 14 days? I go pretty crazy for merchandise and will be saving up for a nice piece of art before hand. It's more the drinks and tips I am thinking of. We aren't big drinkers but have been known to drink a few cocktails and beers on a night ;-)

Wow, sorry for the long post guys! Hope everyone is OK anyway, and enjoying their weekend

 

[valbob89]

Hi all!

Wow, haven't posted in around 6 weeks, how is everyone?

People seem to be getting really organised now, I'm getting left behind ;-) I've found great flight prices for us to Houston, just waiting until payday to book them. Also changed our pre-cruise plans, I think we are just gonna spend a couple of nights in Galveston instead of Houston. I personally think landing at 1pm on the Thursday 16th will be too hectic to see Houston and then get down to Galveston. Think we are going to book the Holiday Inn in Galveston as you get complimentary cruise port transfers.

We visited London last weekend for the last weekend of the Olympics, was a fantastic day and I am proud of my country for making the Games so great. Added photo link below for anyone who is interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markcollettephotos/sets/72157631039713848/

Off to Amsterdam next weekend, and then Berlin and Budapest within 4 weeks as well. Very excited to see all those cities!

Hoping you can all help me with a couple of questions I have as well about our cruise. We have started to think about how much money to take etc and how to spend onboard. Is it possible to put one of those pre-paid cards 'behind the desk?' We always take these pre-paid cards loaded with dollars before our US holidays normally and hoping to do the same for this cruise.

Also, can anybody give me a rough estimate of how much we can expect to spend in the 2 weeks for the 14 days? I go pretty crazy for merchandise and will be saving up for a nice piece of art before hand. It's more the drinks and tips I am thinking of. We aren't big drinkers but have been known to drink a few cocktails and beers on a night ;-)

Wow, sorry for the long post guys! Hope everyone is OK anyway, and enjoying their weekend

Thanks for the Holiday Inn port transfer info.

How exciting to be in London during the Olympics. The city looked at it's best. Your photos were great. Did you get to any of the stadium venues? We were in Atlanta during their Olympics and I know just being in the city was exciting.

How much you can expect to spend is really a hard thing to say. You can anticipate the tips but the rest depends on you. On our first DCL cruise our final statement was so big they couldn't slip it under our door, and that was only a 7 day cruise. But if you don't make optional purchaes, i.e. drinks, Palo, excursions, tastings, merchandise, bingo, snacks, it can be almost nothing (like your not going to buy anything)

We have used Disney Gift Cards (before the cruise and once on board), Disney Visa Rewards cards and we have put extra money on our account before the trip. They will take your money anyway you want to give it to them.

You mention buying art on board. In the past there has been a lot of grief posted about the companies DCL used as their art gallery contractor. So much that they have taken over running the gallery. I wanted to mention that we bought a piece during the Hawaii cruise silent action. We had it shipped to our home and it arrived in about 4 weeks. The only issue was when we followed the instructions we were given and called WDW Merchandise for shipping info they had no idea what we were taking about and even on the morning the art arrived, they had no record of our purchase, although we were given one of their receipts. The art appeared to be shipped directly from the ship, when it docked in Seattle after it's repositioning cruise from LA. It arrived safe and sound, well packaged, in a very reasonable time.

 

[valbob89]

We have been pretty busy planning a trip to New York and the DCL NY - Canada cruise and then a West Coast Pixar cruise.

Once we get back from our upcoming cruises I'll get serious about this cruise and post a poll on the interest in group shirts and the overall design. My questions would be:

Are you interested in a group shirt?


Do you prefer:
Smaller images all over versus one large image on the back?

Mickey head flags versus walking Mickey flags?

Color choice - cream, black, some other color?

 

[airforcemomof2]

I want to go on this cruise SO BAD!! I'm so jealous of those of you with seemingly endless amounts of money and/or time off from work! I got out of the military about a year ago and I sure do miss the time off! I am really going to try and figure out how to make this work! Our last cruise was in 2006, 11 days on the Wonder in the Caribbean. I just can't see sailing for 3 or 5 days! It would be me (Cathy), DH James and DD 13, DS 11, and DS 3. My kids don't get out of school until the end of Jun, so I would need to figure out if I could pull them out for 2 weeks. Any advise would be greatly appreciated! I really hope I get to meet all of you on-board! ( off to read 30+ pages now...) lol

Cathy

 

[fast43]

Gone cruisin

Hello from the mountains of western Maryland. We are from the Cumberland area right near the West Virginia border. We have nothing as far as air reservations for our trip home from Spain. Im sure we can get something from Southwest for the trip down to Texas but as far as Barcelona to BWI you are looking at $1300 each.

Welcome aboard

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[dylan'smom]

We have been pretty busy planning a trip to New York and the DCL NY - Canada cruise and then a West Coast Pixar cruise. Once we get back from our upcoming cruises I'll get serious about this cruise and post a poll on the interest in group shirts and the overall design. My questions would be:

Are you interested in a group shirt?
Do you prefer:
Smaller images all over versus one large image on the back?
Mickey head flags versus walking Mickey flags?
Color choice - cream, black, some other color?

You were very generous to handle this so well on the Hawaii cruise!! Looking forward to seeing what look "wins out" if we have an official shirt for the ebta!!

.

 

[MandyGirl]

I want to go on this cruise SO BAD!! I'm so jealous of those of you with seemingly endless amounts of money and/or time off from work! I got out of the military about a year ago and I sure do miss the time off! I am really going to try and figure out how to make this work! Our last cruise was in 2006, 11 days on the Wonder in the Caribbean. I just can't see sailing for 3 or 5 days! It would be me (Cathy), DH James and DD 13, DS 11, and DS 3. My kids don't get out of school until the end of Jun, so I would need to figure out if I could pull them out for 2 weeks. Any advise would be greatly appreciated! I really hope I get to meet all of you on-board! ( off to read 30+ pages now...) lol

Cathy

Good luck getting it sorted out! Fortunately I now work strictly online, so I am able to work anywhere I have an internet connection. I could not do that when teaching in public schools previously.

Check with your local school system... Some families will withdraw their children from public school to homeschool them, and only need proof of curriculum when asked. There are many affordable curriculums available. Then, once they return, they re-enroll their children in school. But again, it varies from state to state. I'm a certified principal in Texas, but do not know what the law is in other states.

If you are in Virginia, check out these links I just Googled.

Gone cruisin

Hello from the mountains of western Maryland. We are from the Cumberland area right near the West Virginia border. We have nothing as far as air reservations for our trip home from Spain. Im sure we can get something from Southwest for the trip down to Texas but as far as Barcelona to BWI you are looking at $1300 each.

Welcome aboard

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Welcome aboard! Definitely keep checking around with flights. I found another couple airfare for less than half what they were being quoted, with only one connection. That thought process may be a page or two back, but was having them use EasyJet to go to Paris when those flights open up for sale (spending time at Disneyland Paris) and then Paris to JFK with one connection. Both flights total for less than half they were finding, and less than cheapoair.com was showing as well for the same exact carrier CDG-JFK. This was on IcelandAir, which also gives a free stopover there in Iceland for up to 7 days if that is on your bucket list

 

[txaggie94gigem]

so i am very sad to saythat we will not be able to take this cruise...

our favorite cruise ever was the last transatlantic we took in 2007...but our 1 year old was just diagnosed with a mild brain disorder where he gets frequent headaches due to increased pressure within his brain...the specialists have told us that although he can fly, a 10 hour transatlantic flight may trigger massive headaches...i think all passengers would agree that a 10 hour flight with a screaming 1 year old is a bad idea!!! so we have to cancel....

the good news is this coincides with a change in the galveston cruises so we can now take a cruise and get to go to castaway cay!! and galveston is only about 7 hours away by car!!!

so y'all have a great time!!! the days at sea are awesome!! be prepared to stay up later than most cruises and sleep in later due to the time changes!!! we ordered more room service this cruise that ever due to the late nights....they even stopped most morning activities because no one was awake and came to them!!! we ate an early lunch, dinner, then midnight snack...those were our three meals a day!!! and i have never seen so many adults in the clubs!!! also...have a backup plan with cash...when we stopped at gilbratar none of the credit cards would work and some people were unable to pay and had to bum money off fellow DISers to pay for meals...we knew they were good for it because we knew where they "lived"! so make sure you have some cash just in case!

 

[MandyGirl]

so i am very sad to saythat we will not be able to take this cruise...

Boo for missing the EBTA, but YAY for finding an alternative!!

Not to sway you, but did I see someone coming back across WBTA on Cunard? Fly Barcelona to another European port, then come across to New York? Might help you 1-year-old.

 

[krispykreme97]

Wondering if anyone had any idea of what the port adventures are like for this cruise. Any way to get a one way flight cheaper than a round trip? Guess I could just book the round trip and not take the returning flight.

 

[gonecrusin]

Gone cruisin

Hello from the mountains of western Maryland. We are from the Cumberland area right near the West Virginia border. We have nothing as far as air reservations for our trip home from Spain. Im sure we can get something from Southwest for the trip down to Texas but as far as Barcelona to BWI you are looking at $1300 each.

Welcome aboard

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

The beautiful mountains of Maryland! Nice to meet you.

Ouch! $1300 each. Guess I'll wait until we get back from our Oct cruise to tackle this.

Take care!

 

[gonecrusin]

Wondering if anyone had any idea of what the port adventures are like for this cruise. Any way to get a one way flight cheaper than a round trip? Guess I could just book the round trip and not take the returning flight.

I have read that some people are doing this. R/T was cheaper in some cases.

 

[NancyIL]

I moved an onboard booking to this cruise in January, and have run hot and cold about actually doing it ever since. Today my Disney cruise buddy (Vicki) said yes - so we're a goin'! Although I would've preferred more days in port - I am determined to learn to love sea days!

I am looking forward to meeting many of you whose screen names I have seen here for years!

 

[MandyGirl]

I moved an onboard booking to this cruise in January, and have run hot and cold about actually doing it ever since. Today my Disney cruise buddy (Vicki) said yes - so we're a goin'! Although I would've preferred more days in port - I am determined to learn to love sea days!

I am looking forward to meeting many of you whose screen names I have seen here for years!

Yay!! Sometimes you've just gotta do it. Congrats!

Wondering if anyone had any idea of what the port adventures are like for this cruise. Any way to get a one way flight cheaper than a round trip? Guess I could just book the round trip and not take the returning flight.

Check around, or have a travel agent check around for you. I know I have done it for several people as a one-way flight, cheaper than what the agency I am with could display on our options (so that's when I look at airlines directly). A few pages back you can see where I found someone a quote for less than half what they were being quoted for this cruise (one-way). A lot depends on your city-pair and if you are willing to tweak your return date. Sometimes even hopping to a different city works out cheaper in the long run, like spending a few days at DisneyLand Pairs before flying home out of CDG.

 

[NancyIL]

We are staying in Barcelona 3 days post-cruise, then flying to the US using American Airlines frequent-flyer miles.

 

[woody73]

I moved an onboard booking to this cruise in January, and have run hot and cold about actually doing it ever since. Today my Disney cruise buddy (Vicki) said yes - so we're a goin'! Although I would've preferred more days in port - I am determined to learn to love sea days!

Nice to have you with us!

Woody

 

[NancyIL]

Yay!! Sometimes you've just gotta do it. Congrats!

Nice to have you with us!

Woody

Thank you!

 

[kaseyC]

I moved an onboard booking to this cruise in January, and have run hot and cold about actually doing it ever since. Today my Disney cruise buddy (Vicki) said yes - so we're a goin'! Although I would've preferred more days in port - I am determined to learn to love sea days!

I am looking forward to meeting many of you whose screen names I have seen here for years!

Yeah!! Looking forward to sailing with you!!

 

[NancyIL]

Yeah!! Looking forward to sailing with you!!

Thanks! Yours is one of those screen names I've seen for years, and look forward to meeting!

I am excited about going on this cruise, but it means my June Baltic cruise with the fabulous itinerary will have to wait for another year.

 

[dylan'smom]

I moved an onboard booking to this cruise in January, and have run hot and cold about actually doing it ever since. Today my Disney cruise buddy (Vicki) said yes - so we're a goin'! Although I would've preferred more days in port - I am determined to learn to love sea days!
I am looking forward to meeting many of you whose screen names I have seen here for years!

Funny, that's just what I thought when I saw your post!! I've been on the boards a long time too...so long, in fact, that DS who inspired my username is now approaching 21!! While I'm still his mom, lol, just doesn't have the same impact for me!!

I wish there was one more port, anyway - Cadiz was my favorite on the other TAs!! sigh

.