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

[winotracy]

We have packed and now repacked and I think things are looking good. Gave up on the garment bag and we'll fold everything this time. Need the wheeled bag instead

 

[Scooby3x1y]

You can always come and visit me on the way out. There's a passport office here in Miami. Or at least there used to be. We used to have lots of last minute business trips to China - where you need a passport AND a visa.

I can show you the beautiful ashen skys - and the red sun at noon! Our weather here in S. Florida has been so absolutely gorgeous lately (NOT!).

Have you tried talking to the supervisor to the supervisor to the supervisor? I think you need to get to the department that actually processes your passports.

Good luck!

Sue

Thanks Sue, I may have to take you up on that. She said that the actual office that does the processing doesn't have a phone number that we can call. If I don't have an answer by tomorrow, I'm going to insist on speaking to a supervisor. The poor girl was so apologetic; me having an anxiety attack (almost in tears), assuring her it wasn't her fault.

 

[epcotrulz]

What night is the wine tasting/DIS meet? I can't find the post with the date . . .

thanks!

 

[sweetsue]

What night is the wine tasting/DIS meet? I can't find the post with the date . . .

thanks!

There are two posts that have the answers to all questions.

FAQs are on page 1, post 15.
Events are on page 55, the first post.

Both of those posts have links to each other - so if you only remember one you can still find the other.

You might find it easiest to look there first - and then if you don't find the answer ask on the board.

Hope that helps!

Sue

 

[NejTheLion]

Hi Jen,

When I click on the guest list it still shows the old room. Can you send me a link to the new guest list. The home page says it was updated today but when I click on guest list it is the same list from before. Let me know what I am doing wrong.

Thank you,
Faith

Try hitting refresh when you're on the guest list. It's showing me room 7050 right now. The link hasn't changed: http://mysite.verizon.net/nejthelion/guests.htm

 

[NejTheLion]

I have been thinking over the last few weeks about a treasure hunt for my kids. It's been 3 years since our last DCL, so I can't remember some good locations to set up notes or clues. I wanted to make it kid friendly and do it on Pirate night so they can hunt for the pirate treasure. I had no idea that there would be an adult one when I started to cook up this idea. I don't want to infringe on what is going on with the adult adventure.

So, if anyone has suggestions, please share them with me. Anything cleaver, rhyming, or good locations would be great. If we want to compile it and share it with each other, that would be great. Here's a paper I wanted to write it on.

Thanks!

Lori
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u188/Scooby3x1y/PirateMap.jpg

I don't think your treasure hunt would infringe on the scavenger hunt at all. In my mind, they're too very different things. And even if they weren't, the more the merrier, I say!

I would be worried about DCL's penchant for cleanliness and that any clues left somewhere might be cleaned up accidentally. Have you thought about asking some cast members to perhaps hold on to clues? I don't know where else would be safe to leave things.

As for the scavenger hunt being an "adult" adventure, I think the families that decide to work together (children and adults) will have the best chance of finding everything. There will be some things that kids recognize immediately and some things that adults will

Jen

 

[NejTheLion]

Jen~Sorry I thought you had received this info~I got a pm back saying thanks!! The last room in our group is in room #5127. Thanks! Let me know if you need more info!

You're good

Jen

 

[Scooby3x1y]

I don't think your treasure hunt would infringe on the scavenger hunt at all. In my mind, they're too very different things. And even if they weren't, the more the merrier, I say!

I would be worried about DCL's penchant for cleanliness and that any clues left somewhere might be cleaned up accidentally. Have you thought about asking some cast members to perhaps hold on to clues? I don't know where else would be safe to leave things.

As for the scavenger hunt being an "adult" adventure, I think the families that decide to work together (children and adults) will have the best chance of finding everything. There will be some things that kids recognize immediately and some things that adults will

Jen

Jen,

I did think of the clues disappearing. I was wondering if a few of the clues were up in the basketball court or something like that. Giving them to a cast member is a great idea. Now if they'd only stay put.....

 

[renegade7]

Jen,

I did think of the clues disappearing. I was wondering if a few of the clues were up in the basketball court or something like that. Giving them to a cast member is a great idea. Now if they'd only stay put.....

I would be willing to allow use of my fish mail if you wanted to leave a "clue" there...

 

[icunurse_celeste]

T- Sorry to hear that you had such a problem with T-Mobile. I have had them for a year now and have loved them-and have found their reps knowledgeable. I don't have a pay as you go phone though- maybe that is where the difference is? I had my international roaming added last year for our September cruise- so I could be reach in case of an emergency. Sorry things went badly. I'll be honest- I'm nervous about using a different SIM card. I'm going to call my brother who has a blackberry and t mobile to get some pointers from him- he uses his all over the world.


Sue-I saw they closed down some of the highways down there due to the smoke and stuff. I'd be having a major asthma attack. I realized that I had planned an awesome diversion for Noah while I am on the cruise. He and Robb are going down to WDW for Star Wars weekend and we are having a costume made for him. I reminded him of this fact and he stated he would still rather go on the cruise. His cousin Katie- is also excited to dress as Darth Vader and go with him.... This is my niece who always wears dresses and jewelry- but recently fell in love with Star Wars. You need to bring Christina up and she can play with my two nieces- ages 5 and 3. They'd have a blast.



Lori- We will all hold a moment of silence for you, at say 2AM CST- and hopefully this will help your passports show up. I picked 2AM- because we should all be sleeping and thus be silent. You want my husband from NY to call- you'll either get your passports ASAP or end up on a terrorist watch list due to his yelling.

 

[Yensidfan]

Try hitting refresh when you're on the guest list. It's showing me room 7050 right now. The link hasn't changed: http://mysite.verizon.net/nejthelion/guests.htm

Hi Jen,

Just tried it again and it now works. I see all the changes. Thanks for all your hard work. See you on the cruise.

Faith

 

[icunurse_celeste]

Is anyone going on the beach on Ischia for the Naples spot?


Yes, T- I'm still thinking about Sorrento and trying to make my mind up.


I'm trying to decide between hiking, going to the beach (same place as DCL, but not with DCL) and doing Sorrento with you and Bill. I hope to have my mind made up by tomorrow. I'll email you later tomorrow.

 

[winotracy]

Is anyone going on the beach on Ischia for the Naples spot?


Yes, T- I'm still thinking about Sorrento and trying to make my mind up.


I'm trying to decide between hiking, going to the beach (same place as DCL, but not with DCL) and doing Sorrento with you and Bill. I hope to have my mind made up by tomorrow. I'll email you later tomorrow.

Call if you'd rather so we can talk about other stuff too. I'll be around most of the day (though around 2 waiting to hear about the surgery).






Good Morning Cruisers! Another day closer to our cruise!! Now we can say NEXT WEEK WE CRUISE!!

 

[Hygiene99]

Another day closer to our cruise!!

Morning everyone!!!

 

[Jeni1781]

Does anyone know where to get a converter for the outlets in europe? We are staying in spain for a few days and want to at least be able to charge our camera battery. Thanks.

 

[poconoboatniks]

Good Morning Everyone,

One more Monday and the kiddos will be out of school for our trip. 4 more Mondays and the kiddos will be in their last week of school for this year.

LOVE the Photo Scavenger Hunt!

Jen, I saw a converters in the travel section of Walmart over the weekend. I don't think they were too expensive.

Celeste, How's the foot? Hopefully you are on the mend.

Peter, Happy Belated Birthday!

How is everyone getting their wine to Spain? Our grocery store has neoprene bottle bags. I was considering buying one of those bags and then packing the bottle in checked luggage. Will this work?

 

[NejTheLion]

Jen,

I did think of the clues disappearing. I was wondering if a few of the clues were up in the basketball court or something like that. Giving them to a cast member is a great idea. Now if they'd only stay put.....

Well, there are some locations with cast members that are relatively stable (guest relations, shore excursions, DVC sales rep, new cruise sales rep, etc.)

Of course, it could be kinda fun for the treasure hunt to be roaming. You would have to write the clues as you went depending upon whom you gave them to.

I think it'll be an interesting experiment however you decide to do it. Let us know how it turns out!

Jen

 

[sweetsue]

Sue-I saw they closed down some of the highways down there due to the smoke and stuff. I'd be having a major asthma attack. I realized that I had planned an awesome diversion for Noah while I am on the cruise. He and Robb are going down to WDW for Star Wars weekend and we are having a costume made for him. I reminded him of this fact and he stated he would still rather go on the cruise. His cousin Katie- is also excited to dress as Darth Vader and go with him.... This is my niece who always wears dresses and jewelry- but recently fell in love with Star Wars. You need to bring Christina up and she can play with my two nieces- ages 5 and 3. They'd have a blast.

Asthma would be a killer down here. Although we're not as bad as it's been in St. Pete. It should be getting better from here though. The winds are supposed to come from the East now bringing clearer skies and much needed rain. Yesterday we drove past the park on our way to Target. The park is usually overflowing with children - we're talking HUNDREDS. There was ONE child with two parents in the entire park. Spooky.... I let Christina wander the mall instead.

Christina and I went shopping over the weekend. She had her dance recital in Boca, so after the recital we headed to Nordstrom's for shoes. We found FOUR pairs of shoes to fit over those big hunking braces. And can you guess what color was her favorite????? Yep, you got it - BLACK.

Today I put new white and pink shoes for her to go to school. She told me they were the WRONG ones! She needed the BLACK ones! I explained that she was wearing pink and the black shoes didn't go. I'm not sure she believed me. I finally had to agree to let her wear the black ones tomorrow.

Sue

 

[sweetsue]

Does anyone know where to get a converter for the outlets in europe? We are staying in spain for a few days and want to at least be able to charge our camera battery. Thanks.

Radio Shack has a great set of converters and adapters. You will need to know the wattage of whatever you want to plug into the converter. Converters are generally placed into "low" and "high" wattage. The low ones can usually handle camera battery chargers, razors, etc. The high ones are used for more extensive electronics like DVD players, computers, etc. You can use the high wattage ones for any device. The high wattage converters are more expensive.

Besides the converter, you will need an adapter for the country you are visiting. Europe has two pronged outlets. The good news - the converter and adapter will also work on the cruise ship in those outlets that aren't already converted to US.

The radio shack employees are also very helpful. Tell them exactly what you need and they will be able to help you. It's best if you can bring in the chargers for all devices you want to use. The wattage is listed on those chargers.

And finally - if you can't find what you want. Or if you get to Barcelona and what you bought doesn't work, go to El Corte Ingles. This nine-story department store has EVERYTHING including the kitchen sink. If they don't have it for sale, it doesn't exist. They even sell groceries. They are located in Placa Catalunya which is at the top of Las Ramblas.

HTH!

Sue

 

[sweetsue]

How is everyone getting their wine to Spain? Our grocery store has neoprene bottle bags. I was considering buying one of those bags and then packing the bottle in checked luggage. Will this work?

We're not bringing any wine (which is unusal for us - we usually bring a case). I have one of those bottle bags and I don't think it would work if the wine ended up towards the outside of the bag and the bag got dropped on the floor. Like from the back of a luggage cart. Although if you have hard-sided luggage you might be okay. We're using this opportunity to purchase some new wines in Spain instead!

You might try this (although it'll take up some room):

Buy one of those shipping cartons. Here they sell them in two pack, six pack and case. I'd buy the two pack. Toss the cardboard carton. Use the styrofoam insert to pack the wine. Tape the styrofoam closed really, really well. I imagine that would survive most anything (and hopefully the TSA would close it back up if they opened it).

Sue