May 28, 2011 - 11 Night Mediterranean Sailing from Barcelona

[Mog's Mom]

Just ready to do a final printout of the FE to take onboard with us and I noticed that we have no stateroom number for Vicky29! I know we won't know about dylan'smom till we arrive since she was doing an onboard booking during the TA.
If anyone knows these details, maybe they could share them here, or during our meet and greet. We don't want to miss anyone!!!!!

 

[Canadian_Koda]

Hey everyone,

We don't want to take too much cash with us while in Barcelona but since our private tours need to be paid in cash we were wonding about getting Euros at guest services. Will they cash travellers checks or will they only transfer cash? (which defeats the purpse of not having Euros) Thanks for your help!

Also since we are doing a tour in Barcelona we won't be on the ship until later and won't be able to go to the meet on the first day. Would some of the younger, childless people like to arrange another time to meet?

We are getting really excited for the cruise, and I'm starting to get nervous that I'm going to forget something. See everyone soon!

Rachel

 

[DopeyFan1966]

Just ready to do a final printout of the FE to take onboard with us and I noticed that we have no stateroom number for Vicky29! I know we won't know about dylan'smom till we arrive since she was doing an onboard booking during the TA.
If anyone knows these details, maybe they could share them here, or during our meet and greet. We don't want to miss anyone!!!!!

I have not received Vicky29's stateroom number yet. I've contacted her before, but she didn't have it yet. We might have to wait until day 1 and ask her at our Dismeet.

 

[Halo]

Is anyone else getting a teensy bit concerned about the latest volcanic erruption in Iceland?
So far it's only Icelandic airspace that has been closed and the general prediction is that international air traffic won't be affected like with the 2010 erruption, mainly because it's heavier ash that apparently falls to earth quicker but... things can change, even the experts can't be sure about these things, and I'll be keeping an anxious eye on this story over the next few days.
We're flying in from Amsterdam on Saturday morning so we have no room for major delays (flying in earlier just wasn't an option).

We are watching this closely too.

 

[scrapycruiser]

We are watching this closely too.

The news this am says Iceland is reopening their airport.
Don't think we need to be concerned. We fly to Barcelona tomorrow.
From PHL they will fly SE to Barcelona.....away from Iceland anyway.

 

[FLCMpirate82]

Hey everyone,


Also since we are doing a tour in Barcelona we won't be on the ship until later and won't be able to go to the meet on the first day. Would some of the younger, childless people like to arrange another time to meet?


Rachel

Should we all try to meet at the adult pool on our 1st day at sea maybe? That way everyone can get situated, unpacked etc? Just a thought

 

[FLCMpirate82]

Is anyone else getting a teensy bit concerned about the latest volcanic erruption in Iceland?
So far it's only Icelandic airspace that has been closed and the general prediction is that international air traffic won't be affected like with the 2010 erruption, mainly because it's heavier ash that apparently falls to earth quicker but... things can change, even the experts can't be sure about these things, and I'll be keeping an anxious eye on this story over the next few days.
We're flying in from Amsterdam on Saturday morning so we have no room for major delays (flying in earlier just wasn't an option).

We went ahead and adjusted our plans! We are now flying in on Friday morning hoping to beat any air traffic delays. We were planning on flying in Saturday morning, but didn't want to risk it. Even Friday makes me a little nervous, but the news said it should be heading toward Greenland, not Europe!

 

[Halo]

Those name tags are excellent, well done. I'm looking forward to getting mine.







.

 

[Maltese5]

Hope everyone has safe and stress free travel this week! We leave Thursday afternoon after my son's last final in school. Looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday!

 

[htmlkid]

Wishing everyone here a safe and delay free flight to Barcelona.
If your staying at the airport hotel on Friday night we should be getting there about 7. Give us a ring and say hi.
The room is under Carlson.

Can't wait to meet everyone. We booked this cruise last June and it seems like it took forever to get here. We will be booking Alaska on the cruise for late June 2012, if anyone else is interested also let us know.


The Carlsons

Glenn, Barbara and Christina (11)

 

[VickidiBobbidiBoo]

Should we all try to meet at the adult pool on our 1st day at sea maybe? That way everyone can get situated, unpacked etc? Just a thought

Adult Pool First Day at Sea sounds great!! After lunch? Shall we say like 2pm?

I really can't believe that we will be there in just a few days!! So excited! At work today, I said hi to someone in the hallway, and they asked what I was smiling about - I almost felt bad telling them that I was leaving Thursday for a cruise!

FE gifts are done, bags are half packed!! Still doing some random item research... but ready to go!

We are over night Friday-Saturday in Barcelona at the Hotel Curious. See you all soon!
Vicki & Dan

 

[Simian]

We went ahead and adjusted our plans! We are now flying in on Friday morning hoping to beat any air traffic delays. We were planning on flying in Saturday morning, but didn't want to risk it. Even Friday makes me a little nervous, but the news said it should be heading toward Greenland, not Europe!

Good plan. We are now thinking of doing the same, or perhaps even taking the train down from Amsterdam overnight on Friday (16 hours). It's not looking too great, is it? Fingers crossed the situation doesn't get any worse.

 

[annichan]

I must admit that I am so, so anxious and nervous about this ash cloud now ... I feel really pessimistic about this at the moment.

The only good thing is that the cloud is expected over Northern Germany later tonight, which means that our local airport will in all likelihood have reopened already by Friday. (After all, the Icelandic airports are all reopened now, too.)

But even if we're able to start at our airport, who knows if we will get to Barcelona, if the cloud goes on in that direction ... I feel like I will only be able to truly start breathing again when we touch down at Barcelona Airport on Friday.

 

[pj-atsea]

Good plan. We are now thinking of doing the same, or perhaps even taking the train down from Amsterdam overnight on Friday (16 hours). It's not looking too great, is it? Fingers crossed the situation doesn't get any worse.

Well, my daughter has to work on Thursday so we cannot change our flight. I think at this point the cost to change the flight would be too much but I am going to call my travel agent this morning and see about it. Am really nervous now- after all this planning and the long wait for a cabin maybe we can't get there! pj

 

[FLCMpirate82]

Adult Pool First Day at Sea sounds great!! After lunch? Shall we say like 2pm?

I really can't believe that we will be there in just a few days!! So excited! At work today, I said hi to someone in the hallway, and they asked what I was smiling about - I almost felt bad telling them that I was leaving Thursday for a cruise!

FE gifts are done, bags are half packed!! Still doing some random item research... but ready to go!

We are over night Friday-Saturday in Barcelona at the Hotel Curious. See you all soon!
Vicki & Dan

2 pm sounds good to us! See you in all in a few more days!

 

[FLCMpirate82]

I was trying to get an idea where the ash is headed from this volcano and I came across this site.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/volcano/public/eurasia.html

None of the projections have it coming anywhere near our cruise, so if you are coming from US, Canada you should be fine. Hopefully it will die down and flights will resume for those in the UK!

 

[Halo]

Here's another good website - it shows the volcanic ash overlaid on a radar tracking map showing flights: www.flightradar24.com

 

[annichan]

After being so negative earlier today, I also wanted to share that I now feel more optimistic: Apparently the ash emissions from the volcano have died down so far that experts say new ash won't be a problem to air traffic, only the ash cloud already "on its way" may continue to be a problem in the next days.
Our local airport will in all probability be closed tomorrow morning, but they expect that to go back to normal by evening ... And it seems like the ash may never get all the way to Spain.
So, still keeping my fingers crossed for ourselves and everybody else traveling to the Magic especially from within Europe, but I am starting to think that careful optimism may be the order of the day ...

 

[Simian]

Yeah, fingers crossed the worst is over. The news keeps changing hour by hour, so let's just hope it keeps changing for the better!
We've moved our flight forward from Saturday morning to Friday night, just to give us a bit extra breathing space in case of delays. It cost a few hundred extra, but I'm happier now we have more of a buffer.
I think we'll all be breathing a big sigh of collective relief once we get there!

 

[annichan]

Yeah, fingers crossed the worst is over. The news keeps changing hour by hour, so let's just hope it keeps changing for the better!
We've moved our flight forward from Saturday morning to Friday night, just to give us a bit extra breathing space in case of delays. It cost a few hundred extra, but I'm happier now we have more of a buffer.
I think we'll all be breathing a big sigh of collective relief once we get there!

We were contemplating the same thing today about moving our flight forward from Friday to Thursday, but decided against it in the end not only because a couple of hundred extra would also be involved, but also because we still have to do so much we wouldn't get it all done by Thursday really, plus if our airport is closed tomorrow it would be a bit much to gamble on it reopening by Thursday. Really hard decision, but in the end we stuck to Friday. I think it's a good thing you did it though, as that means you will be able to relax and "be on holiday" a day earlier! Just like you say, I will be so incredibly relieved as soon as we touch down in Barcelona ...