May 5, 2010 Magic of Barcelona

[Goofy Mum]

I like the idea of the mini-book (though it sounds like a lot of work for you). I vote for things that are small as many of us will have luggage restrictions flying home. Magnets or something symbolic from hometown, anything Disney of course - stickers for journals/scrapbooks. I also like the idea of "disposable" gifts that the kids could enjoy on the cruise and NOT have to pack to take home - candy, glow sticks, temporary tatoos, etc.

I was also hoping to just get the kids stuff. (except for Tara's Hobnobs lol) I was hoping to bring England things for the kids. I'm eyeing a job lot of England bracelets. Super light and a cute souvenier. Also maybe some sort of English candy and a pencil or pen perhaps. Just little things I can make little baggies out of.
Since I'm also travelling alone with kids I want to pack as light as possible so I may skip the baggie idea and just do one thing at a time however this depends on what everyone else thinks. Maybe we should start gathering numbers of kids now?
I have 3
next.....

 

[lmhall2000]

you too imhall2000...if there are 7 of you and airfare is around 1k a person, you will save about $2800 more or less...it is a far drive from atlanta, but with all that money you are saving you can stay at south beach for 1 night prior and 1 or 2 nights after your return and still have about $2300 or more left over!

Never been to Miami, that would be cool!! But we actually live in AL next to the TN state line..and my parents are driving down from Memphis to fly out of Huntsville with us..I have enough ff miles to get most 'connecting' flights to any city...and Atlanta would be the shortest direct flight...my parents both had major surgeries last year and I'm trying to limit their travel time as much as I can. Thanks Downtick! Those are the rates I'm looking for from Atlanta, they were $459 this time last year for Atl-BCN...so hoping to see it drop soon!!!
Tara

 

[lmhall2000]

Maybe we should start gathering numbers of kids now?
I have 3
next.....

Please put your members that want to participate on this thread, I will gladly list the names/room numbers as we get them so we don't have to go looking through the threads and miss someone! I think we'll be lucky and we can put a deadline to join so it won't get crazy...with packing stuff it can be hard to meet airline restrictions..if more than we can handle show up we can divide it in to 2 teams...limiting it to 10-20 per team so you don't have to bring stuff for 40+ people..but right now we're still under 20 so that's manageable!!

Link http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=34044564#post34044564

(Love the idea of the English bracelets, I know my kids would wear them non-stop..a fad that has taken our area by storm are these Silly Bandz (I detest them but they're lightweight and easy to share)..they're bracelets in the shape of animals or such that kids trade with each other...I may bring silly Bandz for the kids....even though I've banned them in my house! HA!)

Thanks!
Tara

 

[everafter1]

I think my biggest concern with the flights is that we will be taking a red-eye and flying in the morning of the cruise. I'm a little nervous about cutting it too close, lost luggage, etc, because I've heard of some bad experiences... but I also know some people who have done this and had no problem, so we'll see. We don't really have extra days to play with because of my work schedule and my husband's leave schedule.

 

[lmhall2000]

I think my biggest concern with the flights is that we will be taking a red-eye and flying in the morning of the cruise.

I do recommend buying travel insurance...if your bags are lost or do not show up there are some insurance plans that give you money to buy new clothes...The flight we want comes in at 8:55am...yes, it is a risk but how many flights from ATL-BCN or other airports have been cancelled in the past 5 years? Don't know the number but it's probably less than 2% so I'll take those odds and get the trip insurance just in case!

Tara

 

[everafter1]

Yep! We definitely bought insurance for this cruise! We planned to bring small carry on bags too that have a few necessities and a change of clothes just in case. I agree, it's a risk, but I think it will be ok.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

My wife and I are accompanying our 2.5 yr old girl on this cruise too. Planning to spend 3 days in BCN before the cruise. Have started excursion planning.

Have started looking at some of the ports. Tunis -Medina and Sidi Bou Said are the two ideas that are at the top; Rome - Been there before, except for Vatican. Planning to do it by ourselves by Train to Vatican, do the museum and if the girl sleeps, spend some time in St Peters. Full day out planned; La Spezia - Cinque Terre by ourselves. Probably a half day out day. Been to Florence, Pisa sometime back.

Great board with lots of information. Excited to go on our first cruise!!!

 

[sabrecmc]

Still don't see any fare deals that work for us. I will wait a little longer and then go ahead. I'm not someone who can wait to the last minute!

I don't think we're going to do the FE. We're doing some more touring before the cruise, and I don't think we'll have room in the suitcases, unfortunately.

Has anyone else narrowed down their excursions? I think we just about have ours finalized, though my mom is still debating which ones she wants to do with me and my daughter and which ones she wants to do on her own.

Ok, let's talk clothes! I've been reading some of the posts on the other Med threads and it seems like we'll have at least a formal, semi-formal and pirate night, but the general feeling is that for these cruises, its ok to be slightly less formal. I don't plan to bring an evening gown, but do plan to have a couple of cocktail dresses. I never get to wear them back home! I wonder what the temps will be though...it will still be early Spring.

And now the really important stuff....what movies do you think will be showing? The only Disney one that I see coming out around that time is Oceans...which I can't say I'm too interested in seeing, though for free...wish we could get Ironman 2, but seeing as how that's Paramount...

 

[everafter1]

I was actually just wondering about pirate night! Since we're not in the carribean this time, so I didn't know if they'd still have pirate night. My husband and I were just wondering if we should pack out silly eye patches

I was also wondering if there was a character breakfast on this cruise. I know on the 7 night carribean cruises they have them on sea days, but there aren't as many sea days on this cruise.

We havent finalized our excursions yet... There are a few things we definitely want to see, but we haven't decided which tours yet.

 

[sabrecmc]

Everafter1, I wasn't sure about Pirate night either, but this was on the 4/24 11 night thread:

I just talked to DCL and here is the breakdown they gave me:
Night 2 Formal
Night 7 Semi Formal
Night 8 Pirate
Night 10 Semi Formal

I'm not sure that we will have 2 semi-formal nights, since they have the extra night (maybe that's their other at sea night?). But, it does look like we'll get pirate night. Maybe someone can confirm with DCL. I would love to know what night will have what shows. In 2007, Disney Dreams was on the night before the last night of the cruise and the last night (of the at sea day) was "Remember the Magic." Twice Charmed was day 7, but that was the navigator from the 11 night. Golden Mickeys was the night of the first at sea day, so I assume we will get Villans Tonight that night. For our trip, the Tunis day is the one that ends pretty early (4pm), so they could do Twice Charmed that night, perhaps.

ETA: Welcome whatsthatnoise! Nice to have new people joining us! We first cruised when my daughter was 3. She had a blast. She'll be almost 4.5 this trip, and is so excited to be back on "Mickey's boat."

 

[everafter1]

Thanks, sabrecmc! I figured they would have some kind of deck party at the very least but was worried they might not have a pirate night, since it's usually the "Pirates IN the Carribean" party.

I agree, on the formal evening gowns, I will probably do cocktail dresses, as well.

I am also wondering about the films both in the theatre and in staterooms... My husband and I both wish they'd show Iron Man, but I doubt it... although, Disney does own Marvel now, so you never know

 

[tarald]

Everafter1, I wasn't sure about Pirate night either, but this was on the 4/24 11 night thread:



I'm not sure that we will have 2 semi-formal nights, since they have the extra night (maybe that's their other at sea night?). But, it does look like we'll get pirate night. Maybe someone can confirm with DCL. I would love to know what night will have what shows. In 2007, Disney Dreams was on the night before the last night of the cruise and the last night (of the at sea day) was "Remember the Magic." Twice Charmed was day 7, but that was the navigator from the 11 night. Golden Mickeys was the night of the first at sea day, so I assume we will get Villans Tonight that night. For our trip, the Tunis day is the one that ends pretty early (4pm), so they could do Twice Charmed that night, perhaps.

ETA: Welcome whatsthatnoise! Nice to have new people joining us! We first cruised when my daughter was 3. She had a blast. She'll be almost 4.5 this trip, and is so excited to be back on "Mickey's boat."

Hi guys,

I just called the Castaway Club line so I could book my Palo's reservations and this was the breakdown they gave me for the May 5th cruise.

Day 2 - Formal
Day 7 - Pirate Night
Day 9 - Semi Formal

I hope this helps!

 

[sabrecmc]

Thanks tarald! That's great info.

 

[everafter1]

Thanks, tarald! That is very helpful!

 

[whatsthatnoise]

I noticed this sentence on the disney website - "Naples is also connected directly to Rome by a railway with trains running at almost 300 km/h (186 mph); the journey there is under an hour."

It is potentially faster to reach Rome from Naples port than Civitavecchia!!. I believe the trains are costlier though.

For anyone who wants more than one day in Rome, or you want to switch the Rome day to Sunday, you could explore this as an option. It looks like there are trains reaching Rome at 10:00/10:30 and return to Naples at 18:00, reaching at 19:10.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

Thank you sabremc, we are hoping that our girl enjoys Mickey's boat too!!!

 

[stingmom]

Dates are getting closer fellow cruisers! (104 more days to go !)

Anyone willing to use the private tour companies to share a tour with us?

Me (38), DH (39), DS(14, & DD (11)

My kids are quiet, friendly, silly and enjoy video games (have DS will travel! that should help on the long tour days!)

We are old hats to DCL , our 2nd trip to Europe.

We would LOVE to share a tour with anyone willing.

It is 500eu for a group of 4 OR 580eu for a group of 8!! What a SAVINGS!!

PM me if you'd like to see if we can connect on any of the tours. I know our kids would enjoy sharing the journey with ither youngsters, but we are not adverse to sharing with adults only as well!!

 

[lmhall2000]

My wife and I are accompanying our 2.5 yr old girl on this cruise too. Planning to spend 3 days in BCN before the cruise. Have started excursion planning. Excited to go on our first cruise!!!

Welcome!! Please let us know what you guys decide on Tunis and others, some are confused by what to do in Tunis..and with your past travels to Italy, please share with us what things are must see's or not so hot see's...this is our first cruise as well and first trip to these countries!

Counting trip days down!
Tara

 

[mcpaket]

Hi there
I'm also coming on this cruise with my husband, 2 year old daughter & 4 year old son. Is anyone else going with young kids. We live in the UK so have spent a lot of holidays in the Med but this'll be our first cruise. Received our DVD from Disney at the weekend so getting very excited.

 

[downtick]

Welcome!! Please let us know what you guys decide on Tunis and others, some are confused by what to do in Tunis..and with your past travels to Italy, please share with us what things are must see's or not so hot see's...this is our first cruise as well and first trip to these countries!

Counting trip days down!
Tara

I have been to Tangier before. If Tunis is anything like Tangier, I will not wander far from the boat, that's for sure. I thought I have seen poverty before being that I lived in san diego and have been to tijuana mexico, i have been to bad parts in brazil, but nothing and i mean nothing i have ever seen compares to tangier. I would only hope that tunis is safe as i do not think disney would stop their boat in an unsafe port. I swore to myself that I would never return there and here I am going again 4 years later! oh well, can only hope tunis is better but i expect pretty much the same. I think what was really bad for me in tangier were the people. They were very pushy and in your face like i have never seen before..they would grab you and try to bring you in to their stores, i was harassed several times for money..i have nothing good to say about tangier, only hope tunis is better.