May 26, 2007 (5/26/07) "First Magical Med Cruise!!" (The M&M's!)

[sweetsue]

This is crazy......I was just looking through the excursions and there is very little left! That's totally impossible. Does DCL only release a certain percentage of excursions to the CC members? I was actually going to book my Palo dinner and go back to bed. I'm glad now that I didn't wait!

Yes, DCL holds back some things. They even hold back some for those that don't use a computer. How much and which ones - who knows!

 

[winotracy]

Forgot to mention I found my hotel room there for $76 with tax and it is 0.7 miles from the port. It won't be pretty, but I dont' care. I just need somewhere to sleep.



Peter- do you get to go to WDW with Jenn for the marathon or is it a girls only weekend thing? There could be a serious mini meet if the whole PC clan comes. T- wanna come walk? I'm doing the full!

Jenn asked me if I wanted to walk and I said yes!! Then I realized when it is. I can't. Can't be gone in January anymore. Sorry

 

[sweetsue]

Hey Celeste - I think Sue may have hit the nail on the head with the legal issue. Leaving the fold of the ship can present all types of issues for Disney I would guess.

About the phone issue - I suggest you do a lot more research. Two of my traveling companions had GSM phones in Ireland - according to the Irish carrier they should have worked, according to Cingular they should have worked - well they didn't!! They both tried all kinds of things to make it happen - at both ends without success.

I am going to tell everyone to use email as my contact - if it is life or death - they can phone the ship and leave a message on the room phone if I am out of the room. This is a life/death emergency only - otherwise - email me!

Since my grams is turning 101 next week - anything to do with her is a phone call of course

My grandfather is 92, turning 93 so we're in a similar boat. Thankfully my Aunt (who will be "watching" him while we're gone) has access to email. Still, we will most likely buy a throw-away phone online. Since I won't be expecting incoming calls from Europe, it'll have a US number. This way anyone can call in case of emergency. We have a whole slew of Motorolans that are either a) from Europe or b) travel frequently to Europe, so they gave me great options. Next time I'm at the office I'll dig up the providers they suggested I use and post it here.

 

[winotracy]

Tracy: how come you had everything booked BEFORE 3am EST? TA privilege?

I think the posting time on the DIS is off. I was logged in as myself, not a TA. I had everything in my wishlist and just moved fast. I had it all done within 5 minutes (oh and I was able to start at 2:59 according to the clock on my computer). I did check it at 5 minutes to 3 and it was not available.

Jeanne, join P&J and B&T on the Ballero market tour in the morning.

We have:
Palermo and Ballero Market 8:15 am
Leisurely Sorrento 8:00 am
Dinner at Palo 6:00 pm (day in Sardinia)
Wine Tasting & Sarzana 1:00 pm
Chateauneuf du Pape & Avignon 8:30 am
Nice and Eze w/ Wine & Cheese 1:45 pm
Bruch at Palo 10:30 am (last day at sea)

 

[DebWills]

What a crazy middle of the night exercise LOL.

I didn't get my first choice of the Convertible car ride in Monoco. Tried for that first at seconds after 3am. Oh well, saved some money.

We did get everything else excursion wise while on the ship. There were no Barcelona excursions listed that I wanted.

Palermo: Sights of Palermo
Naples: Amalfi Coast Drive and Ruins of Pompeii
Rome: Jumping Back into Eternal Rome
Florence: Florence and Michelangelo
Marseille: Castellet and Wine Tasting.

Palo was very strange. There were no brunchs available at all around 3:40 when I was done with the excursion. Did get a dinner (there were lots of them).

Getting VERY excited now about the cruise. Looking forward to meeting and seeing everyone. From the looks of things, we'll be on several cruises together.

Deb

 

[sweetsue]

I think the posting time on the DIS is off. I was logged in as myself, not a TA. I had everything in my wishlist and just moved fast. I had it all done within 5 minutes (oh and I was able to start at 2:59 according to the clock on my computer). I did check it at 5 minutes to 3 and it was not available.

Jeanne, join P&J and B&T on the Ballero market tour in the morning.

We have:
Palermo and Ballero Market 8:15 am
Leisurely Sorrento 8:00 am
Dinner at Palo 6:00 pm (day in Sardinia)
Wine Tasting & Sarzana 1:00 pm
Chateauneuf du Pape & Avignon 8:30 am
Nice and Eze w/ Wine & Cheese 1:45 pm
Bruch at Palo 10:30 am (last day at sea)

What? No tea?????? You just might need it after all of those wine tasting excurions!

Glad you got what you wanted!

Sue

 

[winotracy]

What? No tea?????? You just might need it after all of those wine tasting excurions!

Glad you got what you wanted!

Sue

I did tea once. It was fun -- great company, but once was enough. I don't want to miss everything else going on!

 

[misseulalie]

Here are our excursions. I am going to call DCL about brunch when it opens at 9am. There is no way it can be gone after 20 minutes..

Day 1 - Barcelona, Spain - Saturday, May 26, 2007
No Activities are reserved.

Day 2 - At Sea - Sunday, May 27, 2007
No Activities are reserved.

Day 3 - Palermo, Sicily - Monday, May 28, 2007
Palermo For Kids

Day 4 - Naples, Italy (Pompeii) - Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Timeless Pompeii and the Flavor of Sorrento

Day 5 - Olbia, Sardinia - Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Aggius and the Ethnographic Museum

Day 6 - Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) - Thursday, May 31, 2007
Rome On Your Own

Day 7 - At Sea - Friday, June 1, 2007
No Activities are reserved.

Day 8 - La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa) - Saturday, June 2, 2007
Palo Dinner

Portofino and Santa Margherita

Day 9 - Marseille, France - Sunday, June 3, 2007
Marseille and Little Train

Day 10 - Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice) - Monday, June 4, 2007
Create Your Own Perfume
Evening Casino

 

[wrabitdad]

Good morning All:

First - THANK YOU DCL!! After the 36 hours of frustration 2 weeks ago for the transatlantic excursions, last night went wonderfully. Whatever needed fixing must have been fixed.

Hope that everyone else that had problems on the trans made out OK this time!!

Second - Got everything we wanted including Palo brunch, dinner (on our anniversary) and even a tea. Was on right at 3:00, think the computer clock actually read 02:59 when I was able to start. Seemed that by about 03:02 all the bruch/tea were gone!!

Was done with all the excursions by about 03:25.

Third - tried to get on the Boards and it was soooo slow, finally gave up and went to bed.

Will be looking at nap this afternoon as the snow begins here in the NE.

Bob

 

[Hygiene99]

To anwser several questions...

Yes, I get to go to Florida!!

We did not get brunch either!

I just picked a ramdom night for Palo dinner - did not know when I should actually pick the day and time!

Sue - as long as you have a phone we can use we would be happy !
Emergency only!

Deb - We will be on the same ship Again!


We need to book 2 night stay - for after the cruise!!!!!

Yes they do have rooms for under $100.00 www.kayak.com

This is what we are looking for!
Just a place to crash for 2 nights..


Bob what snow ???

do i need to put the plow on?

 

[jeanneg]

On hold with DCL right now to straighten out the Naples glitch.....seems like deja vu.

Celeste: are you walking or running the Mickey.....or a combination of both?

 

[Hygiene99]

On hold with DCL right now to straighten out the Naples glitch.....seems like deja vu.

Celeste: are you walking or running the Mickey.....or a combination of both?

Bruch at Palo 10:30 am last sea day!
Get us brunch

 

[kpros]

Good Morning Everyone

I guess DCL wasn't done messing with me last night. I started the process right at midnight and got a High Tea. Then I started getting error messages as I tried for a Brunch. So I went over and booked an excursion - went back to Palo and booked a Brunch. Then got an error message while trying for Dinner. So I went back and booked another excursion - went back to Palo and got a Dinner.

Then the real fun began. Went back over and started to book a third excursion - it appeared to be working fine right up to the point of selecting who was going on the excursion. Well, for whatever reason, DCL has decided that I'm no longer worthy to go on the excursions, but Shari still can. Each of the remaining 4 excursion we tried to book would allow Shari but not me.

So, we have six excursions booked - of which I was only allowed on two.

Figure that one out?????

Ken

 

[Hygiene99]

Good Morning Everyone

I guess DCL wasn't done messing with me last night. I started the process right at midnight and got a High Tea. Then I started getting error messages as I tried for a Brunch. So I went over and booked an excursion - went back to Palo and booked a Brunch. Then got an error message while trying for Dinner. So I went back and booked another excursion - went back to Palo and got a Dinner.

Then the real fun began. Went back over and started to book a third excursion - it appeared to be working fine right up to the point of selecting who was going on the excursion. Well, for whatever reason, DCL has decided that I'm no longer worthy to go on the excursions, but Shari still can. Each of the remaining 4 excursion we tried to book would allow Shari but not me.

So, we have six excursions booked - of which I was only allowed on two.

Figure that one out?????

Ken

Ken - if I did not know you !!!!


Sorry, we cannot book your reservation because there is no availability. Please check to see if there is any availability after you board the ship.

 

[jeanneg]

Ken, I had a variation of the exact same problem. I called DCL and they straightened it out for me. Apparently, the ressie I had for Palo in my name was only allowing John to book excursions that day. If you only booked Palo for sea days (tea/brunch) you wouldn't have this problem. They got it all straightened out for me.
I also posted earlier that it looked like all the excursions were gone. This is not true......apparently once you book something, everything else that day which would pose a conflict becomes "unavailable". I guess it's a safeguard to keep people from double or triple booking excursions and then deciding later on which one they really want. Not a bad thing in my opinion.
So for all those who haven't booked, most of the excursions should still be available for you.

 

[sweetsue]

Sue - as long as you have a phone we can use we would be happy !
Emergency only!

No problem! It sure beats ship to shore rates. With a couple of days in Barcelona before the tour I'll be able to test it out before we sail. Now if only I could find a plan with free incoming minutes!

Sue

 

[jeanneg]

Ooops...forgot to post what we're doing:

Barcelona: on our own
Palermo: Sights of Palermo
Naples: Magnificent Naples
Olbia:Moon Valley
Rome: Italian Countryside and Catacombs (if we decide NOT to join the independent group)
La Spezia: Sarzana Wine Tasting
Marseille: Palace of the Popes and Les Baux
Villefranche: Monaco, Monte Carlo and Eze

Our Palo dinner is on Tuesday (Naples day)

 

[kpros]

Ken - if I did not know you !!!!


Sorry, we cannot book your reservation because there is no availability. Please check to see if there is any availability after you board the ship.

As I'm waiting on hold to talk to DCL - I told Shari that what they will say is that there was only 1 spot available on those excursions. So when I finally get through and explained the situation, the nice DCL CM said "It was very busy last night and there was probably only one space left".

So anyway - she talked to a supervisor and got me on the excursions. I wonder if Shari really wanted to do those excursions by herself.

This time DCL came through with some customer service.

Ken

 

[jeanneg]

As I'm waiting on hold to talk to DCL - I told Shari that what they will say is that there was only 1 spot available on those excursions. So when I finally get through and explained the situation, the nice DCL CM said "It was very busy last night and there was probably only one space left".

So anyway - she talked to a supervisor and got me on the excursions. I wonder if Shari really wanted to do those excursions by herself.

This time DCL came through with some customer service.

Ken

I was told it WAS a glitch! Was the problem on a day you had Palo?

 

[kpros]

I was told it WAS a glitch! Was the problem on a day you had Palo?

Nope - but it started after we booked Palo dinner on a port day. So who knows. I think DCL needs to get a new consultant for their webpages and reservation system.

Ken