May 26, 2010--5/26/2010 10 Night Mediterranean

[colmom]

Is it normal that the hotels in Barcelona don't require a credit card to hold a reservation???

 

[traceyjayne]

Is it normal that the hotels in Barcelona don't require a credit card to hold a reservation???

Not too sure about that as I have paid in full on my credit card to get the best rate.
We are at the new NOVOTEL ( same as quite a few of us on here!) due to the great price.
Tracey

 

[Dgentrysim]

tjbaggott, NHdisneylover, & Marlower.....thanks for the clothing suggestions. Just looking at the average temps for that area, I thought I'd need warmer clothes! Appreciate the advice!

tjbaggott....I just discovered the WONDERFUL world of magnets to put on your stateroom door and I understand you are one of the top dogs! lol It's like a whole new world has opened up discovering these magnets! Husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary....hence the cruise! Do you have a waiting list for some of your magnets, or just catch you when you are on at night? Absolutely wonderful that you do this for everyone! Makes the trip just that much more "magical"!!!!

sinnika....I think I'm on the list for FE's....I signed up, but I'll try and find threebrits and pm her. Thanks!

Have a magical day everyone!!

DisneyDeb

 

[sinnika]

sinnika....I think I'm on the list for FE's....I signed up, but I'll try and find threebrits and pm her. Thanks!

Have a magical day everyone!!

DisneyDeb

My bad! Karen (jocjarmom) is now the new FE coordinator. There's a whole description thing/guidelines on facebook. If you need FE ideas or want to make sure you are not duplicated, PM me. Oh course, with 3 groups now, we can have duplications if you are in different groups!

BTW everyone esp the new guys - I'll take names for wait listing for the Palo brunch - just PM me. If we get both days, that would be truly awesome!!! If we only get one day, then the 2nd list will automatically default to the waiting list. Make sense? Clear as mud? I'll know about Palo about 30 days prior to sail (about the same time we find out our cabin assigments and pixie dust upgrades!)

 

[Dgentrysim]

sinneka....I would appreciate some ideas for children, what most people get that they would like. I'm ok with the adult ideas. Couldn't figure out how to pm you, so just took this route! Thanks so much!

DisneyDeb

 

[sinnika]

sinneka....I would appreciate some ideas for children, what most people get that they would like. I'm ok with the adult ideas. Couldn't figure out how to pm you, so just took this route! Thanks so much!

DisneyDeb

If they are like my kids (12 and 14), candy! Stuff to munch on for excursions, at the movies, in the room. Plus then it doesn't need to be carried home! Pencils and pens are cool too! Personalized bookmarks (maybe personalize with the cruise logo and date). And for PM'ing, just click on Sinnika on the left next to a message I sent, and it will show a drop down of choices. You can PM or send email there.

 

[traceyjayne]

tjbaggott, NHdisneylover, & Marlower.....thanks for the clothing suggestions. Just looking at the average temps for that area, I thought I'd need warmer clothes! Appreciate the advice!

tjbaggott....I just discovered the WONDERFUL world of magnets to put on your stateroom door and I understand you are one of the top dogs! lol It's like a whole new world has opened up discovering these magnets! Husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary....hence the cruise! Do you have a waiting list for some of your magnets, or just catch you when you are on at night? Absolutely wonderful that you do this for everyone! Makes the trip just that much more "magical"!!!!

sinnika....I think I'm on the list for FE's....I signed up, but I'll try and find threebrits and pm her. Thanks!

Have a magical day everyone!!

DisneyDeb

Send personal message or on here for magnets to tjbaggott and also jordak they will send you the door magnets with whatever you want on and they are very fast too!
I have some really great ones and in fact so many now that I will have to choose which ones to bring! I know that some of us are also having t shirts made from the graphiocs and I have made some gifts from some too!
Tracey from UK

 

[Kiss-im-mee2]

Hi all just checking in from the Celebrity Soltice. Good to see so much chatter. We were in the Med the last three Mays and the weather was fairly warm to hot. Rome was especially hot althought as stated eariler you do need to cover the knees and shoulders to go into the churches.

 

[lakerz5]

Hi all just checking in from the Celebrity Soltice. Good to see so much chatter. We were in the Med the last three Mays and the weather was fairly warm to hot. Rome was especially hot althought as stated eariler you do need to cover the knees and shoulders to go into the churches.

What do you consider hot??How warm was it??? We are just trying to judge it although we know we have months to go...

 

[jocjarmom]

What do you consider hot??How warm was it??? We are just trying to judge it although we know we have months to go...

Hey, inquiring minds want to know, Mari... not everything has to be taken so sloooooooooooooooooowly...

 

[musttravel2day]

I need help. We need to purchase new luggage for the cruise. The airlines have not been to friendly to ours. It seems like we're buying new luggage every year. I was thinking about buying the hardshell kind. Does anyone have any thoughts about this kind? I was thinking I could put my FE gifts and purchases made overseas in it and they wouldn't get crushed.
Thanks, Karin

 

[jocjarmom]

I need help. We need to purchase new luggage for the cruise. The airlines have not been to friendly to ours. It seems like we're buying new luggage every year. I was thinking about buying the hardshell kind. Does anyone have any thoughts about this kind? I was thinking I could put my FE gifts and purchases made overseas in it and they wouldn't get crushed.
Thanks, Karin

Hi Karin,

I think this is personally a matter of preference. My husband and I bought some hard-sided luggage when we first got married, and it got REALLY beat up too, so I'm not sure how much better hard-side will hold up.

The other issue, with regard to the cruise, is how much space hard-side luggage will take up under the beds. If you get soft-side luggage, it can usually fold up flat.

I think you either wind up spending a lot of money on incredibly durable luggage, or you wind up buying cheap luggage that is expendable.

I was looking at this luggage for my family when I thought our current luggage wasn't going to work: http://www.overstock.com/Luggage-Bags/Olympia-29-inch-8-pocket-Rolling-Duffel/3147702/product.html It's not too expensive, it's gotten good reviews here and on eBags, and if it falls apart anyway, you aren't out too much money.

That's my two cents!

Karen

 

[musttravel2day]

Hi Karen,
Thanks so much. I completely forgot about storage under the bed. In fact on the last Disney cruise we went on I couldn't fit my largest suitcase under there and had to store it in the closet taking up valuable space. I'm definately going to look in to the soft sided luggage. Thanks for the recomendation.

Karin

 

[sinnika]

Hi Karin,
I just purchased a 25"duffle bag that has a hard sided bottom and back. We have gone thru so much luggage too and we were looking for something more compact and with a lifetime warranty, lightweight, and versatile. This fit the bill for me. It's rather pricey but I am thrilled with the look, the different handle heights, and the fact that it doesn't tip over. Karen, I'm glad you mentioned about fitting under the bed since this bag is deep (15") when closed. This bag opens flat and is about the same height on each side (7-8"). May even work well as under bed storage with those 2 big sections open.
Anyway, here's the bag and the video shows you more of what it can do. I got it with a 25% off coupon.
http://www.ebags.com/ebags/mother_l...uffel/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=125548

Taina

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Hi Karen,
Thanks so much. I completely forgot about storage under the bed. In fact on the last Disney cruise we went on I couldn't fit my largest suitcase under there and had to store it in the closet taking up valuable space. I'm definately going to look in to the soft sided luggage. Thanks for the recomendation.

Karin

I got some hard sided luggage two years ago and one of the suitcases cracked in the corner on the first trip. Ugh!!! Must have been too cheap. I have purchased a 21 inch rick steves rollaboard and and convertible back pack too from Rick Steves. This is quality stuff and you can use both as carryons.

 

[lakerz5]

Hey, inquiring minds want to know, Mari... not everything has to be taken so sloooooooooooooooooowly...

Well when you live someplace where some men wear spurs in the grocery store....just tell me it will be above freezing during May in the Med...............................................You always keep me on my toes...

 

[NHdisneylover]

I need help. We need to purchase new luggage for the cruise. The airlines have not been to friendly to ours. It seems like we're buying new luggage every year. I was thinking about buying the hardshell kind. Does anyone have any thoughts about this kind? I was thinking I could put my FE gifts and purchases made overseas in it and they wouldn't get crushed.
Thanks, Karin

Marika and Rio have the rolling duffles from LLbean which are not cheap but not uber pricey either. They squish nice and flat for under the bed storage and hold a ton. They are easy to roll. They only thing I do not like is that they tend to tip over when standing up on end (like to use the handle) when packed at the airport. So you eitehr have to keep a hold of the handle, or lie them flat until you get them checked. They have held up very well and still look great after about 5 years. In that time they have been on about 25-30 roundtrip flights (including 4 transatlantics that I can think of and a couple from New England to Mexico), 5 or 6 cruises and several trips to summer camp. They do not look very "professional" (which is why the adults don't have them--Dave needs a "nice" set when he travels for business) but they are great and if Dave did not need to look prfessional they are all I would have.

Can we have another Question of the Week so we can all get to know each other better?

What are your hobbies?

For our family--we ALL did a lot of community theatre in the USA--but we have not returned to that in Germany yet (language barrier. . .). Otherwise:
David: Likes doing projects around the house--especially when he can work with the kids. He and Marika are putting in a floor and shelves in the pantry right now He also enjoys wine tasting at the local vineyards and sightseeing on the weekends.
Me: I love to plan vacations (we call them Adventures By Hadley) and read a lot. In the warmer months, I ride my bicycle everywhere.
Marika: Marika is a black belt in karate, but she has not found a good dojo here. She loves to read (going through about 5 novels a week--hurray for kindles!!) and do girlscouts (she has been a scout for 8 years). She also just joined a horse riding club and will be taking ballroom dancing lessons starting next month.
Rio: Rio is out performer. He adores theatre and is trying harder than the rest of us to find another venue. He also loves to watch musicals both live and on DVD. His favourites are Wicked, Legally Blonde, Peter Pan. He also dances and takes ballet. He loves the Russian ballet school he is in here. He loves music and always has something playing in the house or on his iPOD.

So how about everyone else???????

 

[MKJEcruisers]

Good question to get to know everyone.

Mike: He loves to be on the computer researching things. He usually researches things for competition (i.e. Fantasy Football). When it is not football season he is working on a database program that he is writing for work. I call him a mouse potato.
Me (Kara): I love planning, researching things and doing projects. When I get started doing a project there is no stopping me. I am very goal oriented.
Julia: She's our little intellectual. She loves reading. She is very creative and loves making up stories.
Emma: She is our fashion queen. She's social (don't know where she gets that from because both Mike and I are very introverted). She loves makeup and jewelry and clothes. She also loves playing video games with her daddy.

 

[wrennies]

For Us:
Dallas (Dad) - Being sarcastic, reading, sports (especially TN Vols!)
Wrenn (Mom) - Reading, computer games, good movies (as in Nicholas Sparks movies!!!)
Nate (15) - Facebook, computers, music, texting .....everything any other typical teenager does
Matt (13) - Computer games, X-box, bike riding
Tyler (12) - Football, Basketball, Baseball, more football, more basketball, more baseball, Tn Vols sports

 

[sinnika]

Great question!
DH: hunting, hunting and more hunting! Big game mostly - deer, wild pigs (abundant in these parts of Texas), bear (reg trips to Alaska for that!). Also volunteers with boy scouts at troop, district, and national level. He's an eagle.
DS: hunting with dad. He's become an expert marksman! Drumming (he's also in the Jr high band), boy scouts - hopes to get his eagle by 14, budding socialite.
DD: Plays flute, piano and guitar. In high school marching band which she loves! Enjoys reading her kindle every chance she gets. Loves musicals esp Wicked.
Me: Enjoys planning trips, travel, going to see broadway musicals. Love to oversee projects - just finished acting as general contractor for my husband's new dental office. Getting ready to take on another building project at our ranch.
Taina