May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[amackay]

I've not had any problems with them personally. All of the official taxis are black and yellow. Stick with those as their rates are set. Speaking of the rates, they are posted HERE. The thing to note is the supplements. The fare is different based on time of day and whether it's a weekday or weekend. There are additional charges for bags (1 Euro/bag), for departing from the airport (3.10 Euro) and from the cruise ship pier (2.10 Euro). If you think you're being unfairly charged, ask for a receipt, they MUST give you one if you ask them. From what I've read, if they are trying to pull one over on you, asking for a receipt (which you can use to challenge the fair) will let them know not to try it on you.

Thanks Jeff !

Once again providing some excellent information. I was wondering about taxis in Barcelona. Couldn't possibly be worse than the taxi drivers in the Czech Republic

 

[MPS516]

I think I'll be carrying luggage off myself. I've had luggage issues (totally lost luggage and items stolen out of luggage) on 2 of my 5 cruises. These were not DCL though. So, I'm just a little paranoid over handing over my luggage and then trying to find it while dashing to the airport.

We bring light snap ties of differing colors with us when we travel. We seal the bag when we pack them and when we pick them up notify someone if the tie has been removed. If they are cut off by customs or TSI they affix a sticker to inform us they had removed them.

 

[abird]

We bring light snap ties of differing colors with us when we travel. We seal the bag when we pack them and when we pick them up notify someone if the tie has been removed. If they are cut off by customs or TSI they affix a sticker to inform us they had removed them.

What are light snap ties exactly?

 

[MPS516]

plastic zip ties used for securing wires or things. a snap tie may have a grip on it so you can snap it off without having a cutting device, you may see them on fire extinguishers. we have used both; we usually have a nail clipper in an outside suitcase pocket so we can clip the tie off when we receive our bags inside the room.

 

[MPS516]

My, my wonderful VOLs are sporting a lead, GO VOLS !

 

[MPS516]

What a Finish - Elite 8 for the VOLS !

 

[rashdecision]

What a Finish - Elite 8 for the VOLS !

GO VOLS!!!!! NOW WE HAVE TO SEE IF WE PLAY NORTHERN IOWA OR MICHIGAN STATE! PERSONALLY, IM DONE WITH THE BIG 10. WHAT A FANTASTIC GAME. Bruce Pearl is the man! Ill be wearing my orange again tomorrow!

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Mike, do you have your room assignment yet? Have you checked?

 

[abird]

plastic zip ties used for securing wires or things. a snap tie may have a grip on it so you can snap it off without having a cutting device, you may see them on fire extinguishers. we have used both; we usually have a nail clipper in an outside suitcase pocket so we can clip the tie off when we receive our bags inside the room.

Thanks for the info.....good idea!!

 

[tripodjw]

No room allocation here yet. Hoping they don't work over the weekend as we have visitors arriving shortly so i waon't be able to get online much if at all) to check.

Have a good wekend all.

 

[rashdecision]

We're definitely tendering in La Spezia and Villefranche. It looks like the three ports I've not been to before (ajaccio, valletta and la goullette (tunis) are all ports where the ship can dock.

Thanks again Jeff! Tendering is always a tricky deal since the water conditions can cause you to miss the port if they are rough. Also, if you are planning an extensive excursion, especially on your own, then you have to take into account a lengthy amount of time to disembark from the ship to the tender then the ride from the tender to the shore. These factors can take an hour or longer off your time ashore. Since most everyone on a cruise like this will be leaving the ship at these ports, I expect the lines to get off will be lengthy. Well, if anyone can pull it off, Disney can.
On a lighter side, my wife and I are in a suite and we can apparently arrange parties, etc with the assistance of the concierge. If we have enough interested, would people be interested in arranging a private wine tasting event. If we have enough people, I suspect Disney would help to arrange with the sommelier. Just curious.

 

[gg.leigh]

Hi everyone!

Just wondering when it get closer, will there be some sort of guidelines issued on the FE? Recommended $, # gifts etc?

Since we signed up for FE, whenever me & DH go shopping, we've been thinking & discussing what would be a good gift. However, we are not quite sure if for our group it's going to be 1 gift per family etc? I checked out some of the discussion board on the FE gifts, although I would love to be able to make something, I think it's not likely (not very crafty, hee hee).

Thanks for your input!

 

[sayhello]

Thanks again Jeff! Tendering is always a tricky deal since the water conditions can cause you to miss the port if they are rough. Also, if you are planning an extensive excursion, especially on your own, then you have to take into account a lengthy amount of time to disembark from the ship to the tender then the ride from the tender to the shore. These factors can take an hour or longer off your time ashore. Since most everyone on a cruise like this will be leaving the ship at these ports, I expect the lines to get off will be lengthy. Well, if anyone can pull it off, Disney can.
On a lighter side, my wife and I are in a suite and we can apparently arrange parties, etc with the assistance of the concierge. If we have enough interested, would people be interested in arranging a private wine tasting event. If we have enough people, I suspect Disney would help to arrange with the sommelier. Just curious.

I'm hoping that ABD gets us a preference for tendering. Maybe, maybe not, but the good news is, they aren't leaving without us! The guides will be on the ship, too.

I'm interested in the private wine tasting! That sounds like a great idea. My only caveat (same for any onboard activities) is that I have NO idea when/what ABD has scheduled for us, and may not know until we board. But please count me in!

Sayhello

 

[jedijill]

I'm hoping that ABD gets us a preference for tendering. Maybe, maybe not, but the good news is, they aren't leaving without us! The guides will be on the ship, too.

I'm interested in the private wine tasting! That sounds like a great idea. My only caveat (same for any onboard activities) is that I have NO idea when/what ABD has scheduled for us, and may not know until we board. But please count me in!

Sayhello

I would in for the private wine tasting too.

Jill

 

[Prinny27]

Jared and I would be in for the wine tasting as well!

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Count Susan and I in on the wine tasting.

On tendering, there were a couple of things to note, especially for those of us taking private tours at those two ports.

1) DCL gives tendering priority to guests that book DCL shore excursions.

2) Guests doing it themselves or on private tours met in the Buena Vista Theatre to pick up tender tickets. The way they did it in 2007 was they loaded from the top right to the bottom left of the theatre. Not knowing, we sat towards the bottom and on the left and we didn't get off the boat until after the third post DCL excursion tender, which caused us to be late meeting our driver to Florence. Message, if it's still the same and I hope to learn this from the two Med cruises before us, is get there early and sit high and right. We did this in Villefranche and it worked perfectly.

By the way, I added a link at the top of the links page to a family's blog that will be on the 4/24 Med cruise. I also added pics to the Roll Call for abird and updated the photo for jojo.

On the FE, what Susan and I plan to do is 1 inexpensive gift per stateroom *except* we plan on giving something to all the kids. Bottom line is the FE gifts were started and have become a DIS tradition because they're intended (and are) just for fun. Susan and I aren't particularly crafty either so our gifts will be something someone else made and will definitely be simple.

 

[gg.leigh]

Count Susan and I in on the wine tasting.

On tendering, there were a couple of things to note, especially for those of us taking private tours at those two ports.

1) DCL gives tendering priority to guests that book DCL shore excursions.

2) Guests doing it themselves or on private tours met in the Buena Vista Theatre to pick up tender tickets. The way they did it in 2007 was they loaded from the top right to the bottom left of the theatre. Not knowing, we sat towards the bottom and on the left and we didn't get off the boat until after the third post DCL excursion tender, which caused us to be late meeting our driver to Florence. Message, if it's still the same and I hope to learn this from the two Med cruises before us, is get there early and sit high and right. We did this in Villefranche and it worked perfectly.

By the way, I added a link at the top of the links page to a family's blog that will be on the 4/24 Med cruise. I also added pics to the Roll Call for abird and updated the photo for jojo.

On the FE, what Susan and I plan to do is 1 inexpensive gift per stateroom *except* we plan on giving something to all the kids. Bottom line is the FE gifts were started and have become a DIS tradition because they're intended (and are) just for fun. Susan and I aren't particularly crafty either so our gifts will be something someone else made and will definitely be simple.

Thanks! That helps!

 

[peterpanstout]

Jimmy and I would love to do a private wine tasting!

 

[amackay]

Jimmy and I would love to do a private wine tasting!

Me and Genna would also love to do a private wine tasting !

 

[rashdecision]

Okay, Ill contact the concierge department and see if we have enough DIS'ers if we can arrange a tasting and how much per couple it would be. Hopefully, we can arrange it on our first day or evening at sea after leaving Barcellona. We just have to make sure it doesn't interfere with a meet and greet. Maybe we can make it for immediately after the meet. Ill get back to everyone and maybe we can start a running list on the web site if we can pull it off so we have a talley.