May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[tripodjw]

Our cruise documents arrived from DCL today. I got home and there was a fedex package waiting for me. Not bad considering it's come all the way to the UK.

Guess all the other Silver Castaway Club members will get theirs soon too.

I like the little postcard page that says Bon Voyage (i won't spoil it for those who don't have it yet). It'll be going up on my wall for the rest of the countdown

 

[ICollectBelle]

Natalie,





You can still call DCL and add gratuities to your reservation # regardless of who you booked through. Another option is when you are on board you can also prepay your gratuities.

Donna

 

[ICollectBelle]

Our cruise documents arrived from DCL today. I got home and there was a fedex package waiting for me. Not bad considering it's come all the way to the UK.

Guess all the other Silver Castaway Club members will get theirs soon too.

I like the little postcard page that says Bon Voyage (i won't spoil it for those who don't have it yet). It'll be going up on my wall for the rest of the countdown

I also really like the postcard page that says Bon Voyage.... I think I would like to use it somewhere.

 

[kforgys]

my husband and myself are ready to see the sights!! his name is christopher and he is 28 .. (29 by the cruise) and i am kristin 25 !! we are new so we need all the help and advise we can get!!

 

[ebony]

Hi everyone. Its really nice to see lots more people coming on to this thread.
I look forward to meeting you all on board . I also got my cruise packet yesterday.
I am looking forward to Sunday as well,( just not the getting up early part) to book Palo reservations.
What are you all going for Dinner and Brunch ?. I might try the High Tea as well this time if I can get a booking .
Still havent made up my mind with excursions yet.
Will have to start reading up on the Ports to see what there is to do.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Yes, we're going to book a dinner and brunch at Palo.

 

[sayhello]

Yes, we're going to book a dinner and brunch at Palo.

Sigh! I just hope there is some availability left for us poor first-timers come 75 days out. I *REALLY* want to do brunch on the last Sea Day, as it's my Birthday.

Sayhello

 

[Welsh Girl]

Ah....i didn't know that!! That's why this site is so good for us newbies!! Thanks Donna, i might well ring in advance and then i don't have to worry on board.

Natalie

Natalie,





You can still call DCL and add gratuities to your reservation # regardless of who you booked through. Another option is when you are on board you can also prepay your gratuities.

Donna

 

[tripodjw]

Sigh! I just hope there is some availability left for us poor first-timers come 75 days out. I *REALLY* want to do brunch on the last Sea Day, as it's my Birthday.

Sayhello

I wouldn't worry too much. They hold back approx 50% of the Palo reservations to be made when you get on board.

If you don't get what you want online, then head to the port early (the docs say the terminal opens at 10am) to get an early boarding number (you board in groups whihc are numbered), then as soon as you aboard head to Rockin bar D (at least that where it normally is) and they do Palo bookings there (they also do DIning changes and Spa bookings at the same place). I'd recommend doing that before getting lunch.

When you get on board there is always someone who'll show you where you need to go so don't worry about getting lost. Just tell the helpful DCL person you want to make Palo bookings and they'll walk you right up to the correct place.

And they also hold a wait-list for Palo - so if anyone drops out you may get a call.

 

[tripodjw]

Hi everyone. Its really nice to see lots more people coming on to this thread.
I look forward to meeting you all on board . I also got my cruise packet yesterday.
I am looking forward to Sunday as well,( just not the getting up early part) to book Palo reservations.
What are you all going for Dinner and Brunch ?. I might try the High Tea as well this time if I can get a booking .
Still havent made up my mind with excursions yet.
Will have to start reading up on the Ports to see what there is to do.

I'm hoping to be able to book one of each. The plan is for brunch on first Sea day (as its our anniversary). I'm hoping for Dinner on the Rome day (as we're not going on any of the excursions that day i think we'll be ok) and then High Tea on the last sea day - though i'm pretty flexible on when we have high tea . We haven't done high tea before so that will be a new experience.

I'm also hoping i can get an exotic rasul booking at the spa for the first sea day - as an anniversary gift to DH. It would be rather nice to have that first up and then off to Palo brunch.

 

[tripodjw]

Ah....i didn't know that!! That's why this site is so good for us newbies!! Thanks Donna, i might well ring in advance and then i don't have to worry on board.

Natalie

Hi Natalie

You may also want to bring some dollars with you for small tips - room service is free (except for soda/alcohol) and the servers who bring it are normally tipped a dollar or two. Even though the cruise is in the Med, the ship currency is dollars i'm working on the principle that tips for room service should also be in dollars.

It's a great idea to prepay or at least pay early on the day you get the form (the queue can get horrendous on the last day at guest relations) - and if you want to increase the tips you can do so onboard at any time.

We found we increased the tips well above the recommended for certain people because of the excellent service we received, - I found a good way of increasing prepaid tips was to bung a few notes along with the prepayment slip into the tipping envelope that you give to the crewmember.

 

[tripodjw]

I just edited the FE list to include the sign up deadline.

All FE particpants need to let me know they want to take part by Thursday 15 April 2010 (1 month before sail date).

We need to allow everyone enough time to buy or make the correct number of gifts they are giving.

I know some of you will be travelling up to a week before sail date and some may be giving hand-made gifts that take time and effort. SO i figured 1 month before for the cutoff was fair.

Hope that is ok with everyone.

I know we don't have full details for some FE participants (lots of GTY) hopefully we can get all that info in the last month. If we're still missing rooms by a week before i'll figure out a time and place on sail-day where i will be onboard to collate the missing room details (and then distribute them too).

It's getting closer guys

 

[rashdecision]

Just a note in case there are any divers out there. I am planning a dive on the day we are in Malta. There is a company that will pick us up at the cruise ship (no extra charge) and my communication with them has been excellent.

The web address is divesystemsmalta (dot com)

Looks like it is possible to do a couple of dives and still be able to meet up with the family for a few hours of exploring. Malta has some decent diving, with reefs and lots of authentic wrecks. I am a certified Rescue Diver so I can go deep, but I prefer not to go too deep in Malta when there are reefs and walls to dive giving a longer dive plan.

If anyone wants to hook up on this, let me know I would love to have a dive buddy from the boards.

Jason

I would love to dive in malta but I was not sure if it was feasible and what the conditions were like. I have been on scuba board but not a lot of info on malta. I wasn't sure about the temperature as well. The wife has me on an excursion to the blue grotto with the kids and her parents so Im not sure I can cut loose without marrital strife since its our first port but get me some info on the dive and shop, times/cost/etc and I will try to work my magic with the wife. I have never dove in the med and think it would be cool.

 

[pixiedust519]

tripodjw - I think that's a great idea for the FEs. For those who have not signed up yet, it's a lot of fun! My mom is creating the no-sew Fish Extenders for our rooms and we're planning on giving out some fun goodies! Last time we participated, we got lots of cute magnets and other surprises througout the week. It's just another little bit of excitement while on the cruise.

Ordered some more Rick Steves books the other day - I'm becoming addicted! I got the Barcelona one this time. Still brushing up on my French too. Does anyone else here speak any of the languages of the ports we'll be visiting?? I know you can usually find people who speak English but I think it's more fun to know the language so I'm trying to learn a few key phrases in Spanish and Italian too. We'll see how that goes...

Is it May yet?!?

 

[MPS516]

We are doing the Hop-On - Hop-Off bus tours of Barcelona on the day before the cruise and the day after. It lists all the sites and we have planned our Hops.

We are also trying to learn enough Catalan to ask for directions and a few other key things before we get there, the Spanish that is taught in the US is more Mexican than the Catalan mostly spoken in Barcelona.

 

[sayhello]

We are doing the Hop-On - Hop-Off bus tours of Barcelona on the day before the cruise and the day after. It lists all the sites and we have planned our Hops.

We are also trying to learn enough Catalan to ask for directions and a few other key things before we get there, the Spanish that is taught in the US is more Mexican than the Catalan mostly spoken in Barcelona.

Where are you researching the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus? I was thinking of using it, although, with as exhausted as I'm likely to be, I many not be hopping much!

Sayhello

 

[Jeff Spencer]

We used the Bus Turistic back in 2007 and thought it was a nice way to get to the main spots around Barcelona. Their web site is:

http://www.barcelonabusturistic.cat/web/guest

 

[llkoolj40]

Hello All,

I booked an excursion in Rome for 8 people and have 2 spots available. The cost is 600 Euros which includes a private guide at the Vatican. This comes out to about $105 USD per person. It does not include admission tickets to the Vatican or the Colosseum. Please send me a PM if you are interested.
Lori-Jo

 

[pixiedust519]

I'd like to do one of the hop on hop off tours in Barcelona too. Jeff - did the buses come pretty regularly at the different stops? I'm just worried about standing around for a long time waiting on a bus. Do you recall approximately how much it cost? And did you make a reservation or just find the bus when you got there? Thanks!!

 

[Welsh Girl]

Good idea!! Will bring some dollars as well then....

I just can't wait now!! It's keeping me awake at night...i am even planning what to wear in my dreams!!

Will we be able to book early for Palo as well do you know as we are first timers or do we have to wait till we get on board?? Thankd for all your advise by the way!

Hi Natalie

You may also want to bring some dollars with you for small tips - room service is free (except for soda/alcohol) and the servers who bring it are normally tipped a dollar or two. Even though the cruise is in the Med, the ship currency is dollars i'm working on the principle that tips for room service should also be in dollars.

It's a great idea to prepay or at least pay early on the day you get the form (the queue can get horrendous on the last day at guest relations) - and if you want to increase the tips you can do so onboard at any time.

We found we increased the tips well above the recommended for certain people because of the excellent service we received, - I found a good way of increasing prepaid tips was to bung a few notes along with the prepayment slip into the tipping envelope that you give to the crewmember.