May 5, 2010 Magic of Barcelona

[Kaleigh]

How does the seating for dinner work? My husband is a little apprehensive about being put with just one other family that has kids, leaving us just feeling like a third wheel sitting there while they do their thing. (It is just the 2 of us; we are leaving the 1 year old with my parents) We have the late seating. Thanks!

 

[everafter1]

How does the seating for dinner work? My husband is a little apprehensive about being put with just one other family that has kids, leaving us just feeling like a third wheel sitting there while they do their thing. (It is just the 2 of us; we are leaving the 1 year old with my parents) We have the late seating. Thanks!

We always choose late seating as well. Since it's Disney, you're still going to have a lot of families with young children in the late seating, but not as many as the main dining. In the past my husband and I were seated at tables for 6 with other small parties of 2 or 3. We've had a family of 3 with a 5 year old seated with us, and they were fun. There was only one time we were seated with a party of 5. It was a little akward, but only because they were always arguing with eachother. Otherwise, I've always had a good experience with our table mates.

What you might want to do, is schedule a dinner at Palo, as well. That way you get a little time for yourselves

 

[strawberryblonde]

LOL, that's funny about your dh deciding to go when you didn't think he'd like it. My DH might have been up for it if he was here. He has a love for all things British - got a Masters Degree from Oxford and SO enjoyed the time he spent there. But, I'm the avid tea drinker.

So far it's just my sister and me, though we do have an extra space reserved if someone else wants it. I think that would be fine to join with you, if your husband doesn't mind. Maybe we can touch base as we get closer to the cruise and see if we end up with a group of us from this thread or not. I hope we have some kind of disboard cruise meet early on.

We've done the Alice tea in the past. It was just OK, not great. Juice and a cookie if I remember right. My dd will probably feel too old for it as well. She, too, is very well behaved and would have been fine at something like this but I understand their rational of keeping Palo adults only. Wish the cruise offered more for the girls who have outgrown the "little girl" stuff and aren't teens yet.

This sounds good to me. We would enjoy meeting up with you at tea, and we can play it by ear as our dates get closer.

We also tried the tea (3+ years ago, when DD was 6) and she didn't enjoy it much back then. It was too crowded and not enough "tea party" like for her. She and I enjoy a strawberry herbal tea along with her favorite cookie, lavender sugar cookies which are a bit old fashioned.....she loves for me to bake them!

Looking forward to this cruise!

 

[Kaleigh]

Thanks for the answers! It is all a little overwhelming since we are first time cruisers and it is our first time to Europe.
Another one- what time is everyone flying out of Barcelona? We are looking at tickets and there are hardly any that fly out after 10:00 am (and they are MUCH more expensive) We will only have carry-ons, and only plan on buying a few small things while there. Do you think we could possibly make a 10:00 am flight?
(We can't put it off a day either because DH has work on Monday morning)

 

[cj'smom]

Thanks for the answers! It is all a little overwhelming since we are first time cruisers and it is our first time to Europe.
Another one- what time is everyone flying out of Barcelona? We are looking at tickets and there are hardly any that fly out after 10:00 am (and they are MUCH more expensive) We will only have carry-ons, and only plan on buying a few small things while there. Do you think we could possibly make a 10:00 am flight?
(We can't put it off a day either because DH has work on Monday morning)

Personally, I wouldn't try making a 10:00 flight. It's 30- 45 minutes to the airport and they advise checking in 3 hrs prior to an international flight. Security for those coming FROM overseas to the US has tightened greatly since the attempted Christmas bombing. They are now doing checks not ony at security but also rechecking at the gate. If you miss the flight, you will then have to pay a change fee and any additional cost of that flight. If you flew out on Sunday morning, wouldn't you be back by Sunday evening so your husband could make work on Monday?

That said, I believe there are some people who plan to leave the ship at the earliest possible moment (aprx. 7 am) to try and make early flights. My flight back to ATL would be at 10:00 but I'm either going to stay at least one day in Barcelona or take an evening flight to another city and layover there before going home.

 

[cj'smom]

She and I enjoy a strawberry herbal tea along with her favorite cookie, lavender sugar cookies which are a bit old fashioned.....she loves for me to bake them!

Ooh, LAVENDER sugar cookies - we love lavender spray on our pillows but I've never heard of baking with lavender - sounds yummy!

 

[whatsthatnoise]

I am using pdfs available on this website for planning our day in Villefranche

http://www.frenchrivieracruiseclub.com/excursions-from-the-port-of-villefranche-2.html

 

[lmhall2000]

This is GREAT! (The link to Villefranche)..we had set on St. Paul de Vence or Eze...now we're going to look at some more ideas...thanks for passing along the link!!

Tara

 

[everafter1]

That's great information! One thing to keep in mind for Villefranche is that we will be there the day before the Monaco Grand Prix, so I am anticipating that some areas may be crowded. We're still deciding for that port, so this information is very helpful

 

[cj'smom]

Because of the Grand Prix in Monaco, we decided to head in the opposite direction and go to Nice. Will probably still be crowded but hopefully not quite as bad.

 

[whatsthatnoise]

Glad that the Villefranche link was useful to some. We decided to do all ports on our own except Tunis. Constraints due to travelling with a toddler, having already been to Florence, Pisa, Rome and cost of excursions led to this decision over concerns of a first time cruiser.

Here is Arthur Frommer on the topic
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/travel/frommer/5878761.html


For Valletta, i am thinking of going with what is here
http://www.eportreviews.com/Europe/Valletta_Malta.htm

 

[sabrecmc]

Good point about the Gran Prix in Villefranche. Right now, we're doing the tour with the little train, but I'm ambivalent about it, really. I'd be ok with just getting off the ship and wandering around a bit. I would like to see it though. Its not likely that I'll head back there again one day, unlike some of the other ports.

I'm still not sure if I want to do a Palo dinner or not. I've scheduled us for a brunch, and there are plenty of dinner slots available...but, I enjoy eating with my daughter. I'm not sure I want her to be off eating with the kids club. I should probably register for a slot and then cancel later if I don't want it.

We found the spa deals offered onboard were much better than what you could pre-book. I'm definitely planning on treating myself to something, but I think I'll wait until we're on the ship.

It feels so much closer now that I've booked things! I'm just waiting to book our Disneyland Paris hotel until there is hopefully a deal available. Everything else is done. I love planning, lol!

 

[lmhall2000]

I'm still not sure if I want to do a Palo dinner or not. I've scheduled us for a brunch, and there are plenty of dinner slots available...but, I enjoy eating with my daughter. I'm not sure I want her to be off eating with the kids club. I should probably register for a slot and then cancel later if I don't want it.

We're in the same boat, dh working 2 jobs for 2 years means we haven't had many dinners together...don't know if I want to sacrifice that time together, but the kids might like eating with just Grandma/Granddaddy one night..hope to book one the night of Tunis, don't expect to be off boat long that day.

I got in the mail today a booklet about planning from Disney, on the front (mailing address) it had my name but on the inside it had "Welcome Back Haverty's"...and a different confirmation code...we are not the Haverty's! Maybe one of you are?? So if you get a confirmation for Hall's let me know!

Thanks!!
Tara

 

[everafter1]

Right now for Villefranche, we have the Nice and Eze excursion booked. I'm still not sure about that port or La Spezia. (Right now we have Florence on your own booked for La Spezia.) We have mostly DCL excursions booked, but I am thinking we'll do Malta and Corsica on our own. I think we'd really just like to hit the beach in Corsica

We booked a Palo dinner for the night of Tunis, as well.

I agree, on our last Disney Cruise, the spa had great deals and discounts if you booked onboard.

 

[lmhall2000]

Just realized the confirmation I got in the mail says I'm on the April cruise...guessing someone messed up??

Tara

 

[sabrecmc]

Tara, it sounds like a printing glitch, but I'd call DCL to correct things. Wouldn't want to miss out on your luggage tags or other important documents.

Questions: When you fill out your cruise documents, it asks where you are going after the cruise. I put in my Barcelona hotel that we're staying at before we fly out, but the fields really seem to want a US address. Should I just use my US address?

Also, we are not able to book Barcelona excursions through DCL, correct? It is listed as one of the ports, but says no excursions available. I figured we couldn't book those, but just wanted to make sure everyone else saw the same thing. After the snafu with the Rome for Families trip, I don't necessarily believe the DCL website info!

Finally, in the latest info from DCL, it says they will change dollars to Euros and vice versa at Guest Services, which is great. It mentions that Tunisia is on a different currency, obviously, but doesn't say anything about exchanging those. For those who have been there, how much currency would we need on a DCL excursion? If I change $50, is that enough for my daughter and I? How widespread is Visa/MC usage? I don't want to be stuck with leftover currency that I then can't change back, but also don't want to be cash poor if I want to buy something.

 

[cj'smom]

Thinking about coming in 2-3 days in advance. Anyone else planning to come to Barcelona for sightseeing before the cruise? The more I read about it, the more it sounds like a really cool city.

 

[fitnessmouse]

We're booked for Palo on the Tunis day as well

Yes, when i wanted to fill out the cruise documents, it asked for a us address. I thought it was just a mistake, i guess we should wait a little longer so Disney can correct it?

 

[laydee314]

Thinking about coming in 2-3 days in advance. Anyone else planning to come to Barcelona for sightseeing before the cruise? The more I read about it, the more it sounds like a really cool city.

Yes, we're arriving in Barcelona on Sunday afternoon - this gives enough time to get adjusted to the time and check out all the sights and hopefully enjoy some tapas and sangria.

 

[sabrecmc]

I called DCL regarding some of my questions:

1) For the cruise paperwork, put your Barcelona hotel if you're staying a night after the cruise. They want to know where to find you the day we get off the cruise. If you're flying home, put your US address.

2) Barcelona port adventures: Not available for our cruise, only Trans-Atlantic. However, I really got conflicting info on this one and the last person I spoke with had to do some research on it and finally said not available for us, but then said to check the website for updates.