May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

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tripodjw

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
We've moved ontot part 2 - find us http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2460433



This is a replacement meet thread for the 15 May 2010 11 night Mediterranean cruise.

The original thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1984959 was started by someone who is unfortunately no longer able to cruise, and as it was so short – it seemed easier to start again.

Sooooo

:welcome: :welcome:

to all May 15 2010 cruisers.

This should be a great cruise. Loads of cool places to go. Weather in the Med is usually perfect in May (not too hot, not too cold and very little rain). And of course the other DISers to meet and greet.

If you are on this cruise, please let us know who is cruising, ages at sail-date (for the kids at least), any special occasions while on board and your dining rotation. Please also say if you’re interested in a FE exchange.

We have a website (thanks to Jeff) with useful information on it
http://5-15-10-medcruisers.weebly.com/index.html

Update (thanks to Jeff for the suggestion)

Useful Info issued by DCL re: Med cruises

Barcelona Port info and times

Airport to Port - 30-40 mins drive
No parking at terminal

Check-in open - around 10-10.30am (DCL brochure says 10am, email says 10.30)
Check in at terminal to be complete by 4pm, after 4pm check-in done onboard
Embarkation - begins approx 1pm
Mandatory Lifeboat drill - 5pm
Sails from barcelona - 9.30pm

Full info as received by email from DCL re: 24 April cruise here

Dining theme nights

Night 2 Formal (sea-day)
Night 7 Semi Formal (sea-day)
Night 8 Pirate (La Spezia)
Night 10 Semi Formal (Villefranche)

(from DCL -posted on the 4/24/10 thread)

Links to DCL Port and excursion info

Valletta, Malta

Tunis, Tunisia

Naples, Italy (Pompeii)

Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome)


La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa)

Ajaccio, Corsica

Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice)
 
Cruise meet list

I'll keep this updated as people add their details to the thread.

1. tripodjw
Jane (32 )
DH - Heath (42 )
Stateroom #2076
Late seating
Celebrating 6th wedding anniversary on May 16

2. Jynohn
Jynohn: 37
DH (Rich): 40
DD: 9
Stateroom #5632
Late seating

3. The Roses
Pirate and
his Wench

4. ICollectBelle and AppleGuy
ICollectBelle - 52 (from MO)
AppleGuy - 60
Stateroom #5624
Late seating
Celebrating AppleGuy's b'day (actually May 13)

5. ICollectBelle & AppleGuy's kids (from MO & FL)
Pixiedust519 DD1 - 27
Ariel412 DD2 - 25
Bubby627 DS - 23
Stateroom #5626
Late seating
Celebrating Pixiedust519's b'day - May 19

6.Friends of ICollectBelle -
60,63
Stateroom #5622
Late seating

7. - ebony

Jan
DH - Carl
Stateroom #5139
Late seating

8. Florida Princess and relatives (2 rooms)

Jean
Walter
Stateoom - GTY
Celebrating 25th Anniversary on ?
late seating dinner

DA Jean
DU Nate
GTY
Stateoom - GTY
late seating dinner

9. cancelled

10. sarahgirl

Sarah (27)
Sailing solo
Stateroom #6148
late seating
Celebrating end of master's degree

11. Travelbee

Connie (39)
DH – Sean (41)
DD7 – Allison
Stateroom #6114
Late dining

12. HelenMartinez

Nelson
Helen
DS2 Colin
DS6 Aiden
Stateroom #6112
Late dining

13. amackay
Allan (27)
DGF - Genna (28)
Stateroom #5629

14. mcinnesp
mcinnesp (34)
DW - (34)
DS8
DS6
Room #GTY

15. jeff spencer

Jeff (50)
DW - Susan (48)
DS22 - Brian
DD20 - Katy
Room #6150

16. kids of jeff spencer
Brian (22)
Katy (20)
Room #6146


17. satish
Satish (38)
DW - Kavitha (33)
Shruti (9)
Sarvesh (5)
Room #GTY

18. adrianhon
Adrian
DGF - Margaret
Room #2546
late seating

19. abdmom
Cathy (46)
DS1 Alex (14)
DS2 Andrew (4)
DD Julia (11)
Room #6056
Early seating

20. Foo Family - Canada

Evelyn
Gavin
DD8 Jacqueline
DS4 Mathew
Room #8028
Early seating

21. jojo6617
Joanne (40)
Mika6617 - Michael (42)
DS12 - Perry age 12.
Late dining
Stateroom #6582

22. leelee9878
Lisa (26)
Barbara (29)
Tracy (29)
Dinner Seating to follow
Stateroom #1047

23. dawne577
Dawne577
DH
Late dining
Stateroom #1062

24. sayhello
Sailing solo
Stateroom #6144
Late seating
Birthday (Villefranche day)

25. pilar7
Pilar
DH – Miguel Angel
DS3
Late dining
Stateroom #5638

26. AlohaJoe23 (2 rooms)
DH - 48
DW - 48
DS - 21
DD – 19
Late seating
Staterooms DS and DD #2538 DH and DW #2540

27. Dibbledebobbityboo
Dibbledebobbityboo (39)
DW - Clare (38)
DS1 - 7
DS2 – 4

28. fldisney
CJ (40 on May 18)
Joe (39)
Dchild3

29. nanaguide

Anna
Carl
Early dining
Stateroom # 6532
Celebrating May birthdays (65th & 69th)


30. scrap disney

Jody
DH - Jeff
DS7 - Ethan
DD9mo - Piper
Stateroom - #6006

31. rashdecision

Rob 37
DW Annette Not 37
DS1 Jacob 9
DS2 Zack 7
DMIL Bobi
DFIL Larry
Early Seating
Cat 3 Suite

32. jubes

jubes
DH
DS9
DD7

33. Hilari Smith

Hilari - 31
Jason - 36
DS 9 - Peyton
DD 4 - Ashlan
Room: #5516


34. llkoolj40

Lori-Jo (49)
Sonia (39)
Gty navigator's verandah
Late seating
Celebrating 40th and 50th birthdays

35. MPS516

Mike (52)
DW - Donna
DD19 - Jessi
DD19 - Megan
Room - Deck 6
Late Seating

36. cancelled

37. Jenandmartin

Jennifer (36)
DH – Martin (39)
Stateroom #5504
Late seating

38. princess paula

Paula
Stateroom #5640

39. supercruiser420

Jon (28)
Samantha (27)
Bryan (27)
Emily (27)
Stateroom #2643

40. friends of supercruiser420
Lukas (31)
Corinne (31)
DS - Luke (7)
DD - Lucy (3)
Stateroom #2645

Both Staterooms GTY
Late seating

41. Christyvoltron

Christy (54)
Tom (56)
Late Seating
Stateroom # 7572

42. DisneyDaysLV

Bryan (42)
Allison
Stateroom #2586

43. peterpanstout

peterpanstout
DH
DS7
Stateroom - 6576

44. Welsh Girl

Natalie (33)
Mark (34)
DD8 Abbie
DS6 Samuel
Stateroom #5005

45. and 46. LDSsinglegirls and "friends" :)

Group of 4 lds single girls

Tracy 29
Jenna 28
Ryanne 29
Tamar 33

We're traveling with a group of 4 lds single guys
Peyton 29
Adler 28
Brandon 24
John 31

Rooms GTY

47. dfsc

Felicia (39) - Clebrating 40th on May 28th
Dan (46)
room #7121

48. Kforgys

Kristin (25)
Christopher (29)

49. jedijill

Jill (36)
Sailing solo
Stateroom #6152

50. Prinny27

Heather (29)
DH - Jared (28)

Room #6015
Late seating
Celebrating 3rd anniversay on 18 May

51. minniesfriend + DH's parents

Kischa
DH - David
Cailin (teen)
Zach (teen)
+ DH's parents
Early seating
Stateroom #7501

52. BckBlue

Lee
Adeline
Madison

53. abird - two rooms

Stateroom 1 - 2558
Anne 49
DH Keller 52

Stateroom 2 - 2556
DD Kate 26
DD Mary 21
Late dinner

54. bengals01

bengals01
DH

55. trampslady

Theresa
DH Matt
Celebrating anniversary
Celebrating Matt's birthday on 15 May

56. k8e

Katie-27
DM Joann-58
Stateroom #6139

Late seating

57. maddisney

DW Olga (38)
DH Marc (42)
DS Florian (1)
Stateroom - #2072
Early seating

58. Pinmeister

Frank (54)
Nancy (52)
Stateroom #6143

59. Picket Fence
Kevin 28
Jamie 28
Stateroom #2545
Late seating
* Celebrating Kevin's Graduation


60. dvcmagic

dvcmagic (Birthday on 23 May)
DH (Birthday on 22 May)
DA (Cindirella)
DU (BuckeyeFred)

61. Cruisin Momo

Rhonda (58)
DH Dave (60)
DD Amanda (31)
DSIL Jake (31)
DGD Payton (5)
DGS Tyler (9month)

Early seating
Celebrating 41st Anniversary

62. love2travel
Annya, 27
Fernando, 27

63. familytravel
Joti (38)
DH Alex (39)
DM Alice
DD Jean (4)
Room #7505

64. JoeUK (2 rooms)

Stateroom 1

Joe (19)
DGF Jess (18)
Stateroom #6650
Late Seating

Stateroom 2

Julie (47)
Rob (49)
Stateroom #6648

65. Wavyd

David (42)
Darin (35)
Stateroom - GTY
Dinner - Late seating

66. emmalouisenicholson

Emma (29)
DBF Phil (31)
DS Ben (7)
Emma is celebrating her 30th onboard

Stateroom #6102
Dinner - Early seating

67. disneyuncle

Ray
DM (late 60's)
DD1 (10 and 1/2)
DD2 (11)

Stateroom 6032
Main seating dinner
DD2 birthday onboard

68. Gullunge

Michelle (29)
DD - (70)
DM - (59)
DA - Ada

69. nursemanager

Cindy
Curt

70. dvcspain

dvcspain
DW – Conchi
DS – David (4)

71. WED

WED

72. 2BNDisney

Blake
Sailing solo
Late seating dinner
Stateroom #5637

73. Curls


Curls
DH
DD4
DS2

74. thecooley

thecooley
DH
GTY

75. xx Hursty xx

xx Hursty xx
DH
DD5
DS3
Stateroom #2134

76. andgon

Gonzalo (34)
DW - Brenda (36)
DS Andres (10)
DD Andrea (7)

Stateroom #6564
Celebrating 11th Anniversary on May 21, and DS 10th Birthday



77. gg.leigh

Me (30s)
DH (40s)
DD (11 months)
Celebrating 6th anniversary 15 May
Stateroom #7634
Early seating

78. TSL

DH - Tom
DW - Tracy
DS - Max, 4
DD - Mary-Grace, 1
DGM - Lindy, G'ma
DGP - Mike, G'pa
Late Dining
Celebrating 10th anniversary

79. ahilman

Ashley
Ricky
Stateroom - GTY
Late seating

On Honeymoon

80. Dopeyfan1966

Cindy 43
DH -Andy 45
DD - Skylar 8
Main Seating
celebrating DH 45 birthday and 16th wedding anniversary
Stateroom #8010

81. Greg M

Greg - 37
Cristy - 28
Stateroom - Cat 9 assigned
Dining - Late
Celebrating 5th anniversary on May 14th


83. pooh & tinker
Tinker 67
Pooh 64
Deidra 21
Stateroom #8502
Early seating

84. and 85. Walt52

Stateroom 1:

Cathy
Jody
Nicole

late dining
Stateroom #5630.

Stateroom 2:
Amy
Mary
Len

Stateroom - gty

86. and 87. moneyhappy

Stateroom 1 - #7008

Tammy (31)
DH - John(46)

Stateroom 2 - #7503

moneyhappy's parents
Rita (65)
Tom (74)

Main Dining

88. mmickeya

mmickeya

89. Holland Disney
Andries (25)
Martien (26)

First seating
Stateroom #2510

90. kehonuamemano
Rayna (27)
DH – Claudy (35)
DD (3)
Stateroom #6508

91. KDavies29

Kim
DH
DS 18
DD 17

92. BTH

BTH
DH
DS 10
Late dining

93. Amtrak23

Sean (31)
Danielle (27)
Stateroom #2647
Late seating

94. friends of andgon

Noel (37)
Johanna (35)
DS1 Adrian (9)
DS2 Alan (11month)
Stateroom #7507

95. taras

Ryan (39)
Danny (36)
Stateroom #2641

96. disneycruisegal

disneycruisegal
DH

97. *~PiXiEpAl5~*

Kia
John
Leilani
Nikia

98. kikina9

DH Antoine 33 (34 on 14th May)
DW Karen 31
DS Aidan 5

Stateroom #5636

99. rguinness
Rich
Karen

100. charlottewilliams

Charlotte(32)
DH - Rob (33)
DD - Piper (4)
DS - Leyton (2)
Stateroom #5509
Early dining

101. jxt203

jxt203
DH
DD (3)
DS (2)
DGM
DGF
DS
 
FE list

FE sign-up is now closed.

This is the final list of FE participants.

For full details see the spreadhseet at this link

1 A 2076 tripodjw Jane DW 32
A Heath DH 42

2 A 5624 ICollectBelle Donna DW 52
A AppleGuy Gary DH 60

3 A 5626 Pixiedust519 Alyssa DD1 27
A Ariel412 Ashley DD2 25
A Bubby627 Andrew DS 23

4 A 5622 - Lee 60
A Sharon 63

5 B 6006 scrap disney Jody DW
B Jeff DH
B Ethan DS 7
B Piper DD 9mo

6 A 6056 abdmom Cathy DW 46
A Alex DS1 14
A Andrew DS2 4
A Julia DD 11

7 A 6114 Travelbee Connie DW 39
A Sean DH 41
A Allison DD1 7

8 A 6112 HelenMartinez Helen DW
A Nelson DH
A Aiden DS1 6
A Colin DS2 2

9 A 8102 rashdecision Rob DH 37
A Annette DW
A Jacob DS1 9
A Zack DS2 7

10 Cancelled

11 B 2643 supercruiser420 Jon DH 28
B Sam DW 27
B Bryan 27
B Emily 27

12 B 2645 Lukas 31
B Corinne 31
B Luke 7
B Lucy 3

13 A 6576 peterpanstout Mary DW
A Jimmy DH
A Max DS 7

14 B 7121 dfsc Felicia DW 39
B Dan DH 46

15 B 5005 Welsh Girl Natalie 33
B Mark 34
B Abbie DD 8
B Samuel DS 6

16 B 6532 nanaguide Anna DW 65
B Carl DH 69

17 A 6152 jedijill
Jill - 36

18 A 6032 disneyuncle Ray 37
A Loretta DM late 60's
A DD1 10 1/2
A DD2 11

19 A 2545 Picket Fence
Kevin 28
A Jamie 28

20 A 6150 Jeff Spencer
Jeff DH 50
A Susan DW 48

21 B 6146
Brian DS 22
B Katy DD 20

22 B 6564 andgon Gonzalo DH 34
B Brenda DW 36
B Andres DS 10
B Andrea DD 7

23 B 7507 Noel DH 37
B Johanna DW 35
B Adrian DS1 9
B Alan DS2 11month

24 B 7505 familytravel Joti DW 38
B Alex DH 39
B Alice DM
B Jean DD 4

25 A 8010 DopeyFan1966 Cindy DW 43
A Andy DH 45
A Skylar DD 8

26 A 6102 emmalouisenicholson Emma DGF 29
A Phil DBF 31
A Ben DS 7

27 B 7634 gg.leigh Tina DW 30s
B Andrew DH 40s
B Rachel DD 11mo

28 A 5516 Hilari Smith Hilari DW 31
A Jason DH 36
A Peyton DS 9
A Ashlan DD 4

29 B 2558 abird Anne 49
B Keller 52

30 B 2556 Kate 26
B Mary 21

31 B 7008 moneyhappy Tammy DW 31
B John DH 46

32 B 7503 Rita DM 65
B Tom DF 74

33 B 2540 AlohaJoe23 Dwight DH 48
B Launnies DW 48

34 B 2538 - Scott DS 21
B Caitlin DD 19

35 A 2010 Florida Princess Jean DW
A Walter DH

36 A 2012 - Jean DA
A Nate DU

37 A 6139 k8e Katie 27
A Joanna DM 58
 
Thanks for starting the new thread!

Our crew will be:

Me (Jynohn): 37
DH (Rich): 40
DD: 9
Late seating:
Stateroom: 5632

Looking forward to meeting everyone!
 


(If business holds...) We'll be sailing as:

Me (33)
DH (34)
DS1 (4)
DS2 (22 mos)
Late seating- more time in port!
Stateroom 6560 (though debating a change in location)

Just sailed our first Disney cruise on Magic in May and very much looking forward to our 2nd annual voyage!
 
Welcome both

Thanks for starting the new thread!

Our crew will be:

Me (Jynohn): 37
DH (Rich): 40
DD: 9
Late seating:
Stateroom: 5632

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

No problem. I'm really excited already. I'll be a basket case in 11 months time. :rotfl2:

(If business holds...) We'll be sailing as:

Me (33)
DH (34)
DS1 (4)
DS2 (22 mos)
Late seating- more time in port!
Stateroom 6560 (though debating a change in location)

Just sailed our first Disney cruise on Magic in May and very much looking forward to our 2nd annual voyage!

We sailed on our first DCL cruise in May this year too. We were on May 23rd Eastern. Which were you on?

If you do change SR just post the new one up and i'll update the list.
 
We were on the May 9th Eastern-

I'll definitely keep updated on whether we make a room change, likewise I'm as yet undecided on the FE (limited luggage space, etc.) though the boys would no doubt love it!

Here's to 1 year of planning...
 


We were on the May 9th Eastern-

I'll definitely keep updated on whether we make a room change, likewise I'm as yet undecided on the FE (limited luggage space, etc.) though the boys would no doubt love it!

Here's to 1 year of planning...

If it's any help on deciding on the FE, we took part in ours on the 23 May Eastern and had to do the equivalent transatlantic flight (just the other way to you'll be doing next year).

We chose to pick up candy when we arrived in the US (so it didn't have to travel with us) and purposefully brought really lightweight toy bits. One of the FE's we received was a set of about 10 photographs of the Magic and WDW. That must have been fairly light and not very space-consuming and i thought it was an awesome idea.

I'm of the opinion the FE is really fun and it doesn't matter what you contribute - it's all about finding the little surprise when you go back to the room :goodvibes oh and not getting caught while delivering :laughing:

THe next year will fly by! Can't wait. We booked our flights to barcelona last weekend and i'm booking our hotel for the night before the cruise today. Expedia UK have a good rate (1/2 the price of booking direct with the hotel)on the Eurostars grand marina that is really close to the cruise dock.
 
We are on this cruise!

We are the Roses, aka The Pirate and his Wench (PAHW). This is our 2nd Disney cruise; we went on the Eastern a few years ago with a DIS group that we still keep in touch with. This will be the Pirate's first trip to Europe, my 2nd. We may fly in to Germany, and do some touring beforehand.

Hope to get to know you!

The Roses
:surfweb:pirate:
 
Being one who likes to hear our travel decision are 'smart' choices- I thought I'd share that Conde Nast Traveler Aug 2009, has listed Disney's Magic Mediterranean cruise as 1 of 12 CruiseSmart options that make the most of time and money. (Okay, so they listed the 10-night, but we're obviously partial to that extra sea day!)

I have to say we'll also be patting ourselves on the back as this cruise is especially listed for "parents of infants and young children who want time with the kids-and without them", which would be exactly our thoughts on booking while on our first Disney cruise!

Anything that makes us feel less-than-crazy for the potential outlay of some serious $$ while traveling overseas with a near-2 and 4 yr old, we welcome :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer-
 
Being one who likes to hear our travel decision are 'smart' choices- I thought I'd share that Conde Nast Traveler Aug 2009, has listed Disney's Magic Mediterranean cruise as 1 of 12 CruiseSmart options that make the most of time and money. (Okay, so they listed the 10-night, but we're obviously partial to that extra sea day!)

I have to say we'll also be patting ourselves on the back as this cruise is especially listed for "parents of infants and young children who want time with the kids-and without them", which would be exactly our thoughts on booking while on our first Disney cruise!

Anything that makes us feel less-than-crazy for the potential outlay of some serious $$ while traveling overseas with a near-2 and 4 yr old, we welcome :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer-

Hey that's cool. Always nice to know the pros agree with your choice. Mind, i would just say the pros don't live in the real world if they didn't agree with me. :lmao:


Summer here in the UK has been somewhat wet and windy. I'm glad we are taking our vacation time in May and fall so we can work through the wet summer
 
Thanks for starting this!

We will be on board as well!

5020- myself 52, DH 60
5022- Our kids, DD 27, DD 25, DS 23
5518- Friends from NY 60,63
Late dinner seating

We have been on many Disney cruises but this will the first time over seas. We booked this on our last Disney cruise in March. We were able to get 2 secret porthole rooms. We are all very excited!:)
 
Thanks for starting this!

We will be on board as well!

5020- myself 52, DH 60
5022- Our kids, DD 27, DD 25, DS 23
5518- Friends from NY 60,63
Late dinner seating

We have been on many Disney cruises but this will the first time over seas. We booked this on our last Disney cruise in March. We were able to get 2 secret porthole rooms. We are all very excited!:)

Hi there.

:welcome: to the cruise and as it's your first post:

:welcome: to Disboards

We're a bit quiet in here at the moment but it is still quite a ways to go til we cruise.

I have to say i'm really excited already, and am thinking about booking a 3 or 4 night trip on the Wonder in September/October to try and keep me from getting too excited for the Med too quickly.
 
Hi everyone!

I booked this cruise while cruising with my daughter in June, but the hubby finally got the time off approved so we will definitely be sailing with you all! I can't believe that there aren't more people on the DIS boards sailing with us. Perhaps they were like me, waiting to book until the rates went down a bit. I booked with the 20% off while onboard, making it much more affordable. It will be just my DH Dennis(48) and myself (46), as our youngest son who is in the 8th grade must attend school (bad for him but exciting for us!) and our older ones must keep watch over the youngest. We are in cabin 7120 with late dining. This will be our first time overseas and the DH is a bit apprehensive about the long flight. So any tips or hints on helping him remain calm and busy would be greatly appreciated! We are going a couple of days early and are anxiously awaiting the pre and post cruise packages to be posted. How is everyone else going to handle this? Since this is our first time over there we are open to any suggestions.

I look forward to learning a lot from everyone and meeting you all onboard!

Laura
 
Hi everyone!

I booked this cruise while cruising with my daughter in June, but the hubby finally got the time off approved so we will definitely be sailing with you all! I can't believe that there aren't more people on the DIS boards sailing with us. Perhaps they were like me, waiting to book until the rates went down a bit. I booked with the 20% off while onboard, making it much more affordable. It will be just my DH Dennis(48) and myself (46), as our youngest son who is in the 8th grade must attend school (bad for him but exciting for us!) and our older ones must keep watch over the youngest. We are in cabin 7120 with late dining. This will be our first time overseas and the DH is a bit apprehensive about the long flight. So any tips or hints on helping him remain calm and busy would be greatly appreciated! We are going a couple of days early and are anxiously awaiting the pre and post cruise packages to be posted. How is everyone else going to handle this? Since this is our first time over there we are open to any suggestions.

I look forward to learning a lot from everyone and meeting you all onboard!

Laura


Hi there

Welcome to our small but happy gang. I’m fairly certain this will get busier as we get closer. I don’t think the Med cruises are selling too well (expensive, people preferring to do the Baltic as they’ve already done the med). I’m expecting DCL to discount a bit as we get closer (hopefully so that we can all renegotiate our rates too).

Not sure I can help on keeping anyone calm or busy ahead of a cruise. I’m fairly wired already, and we have four Disney related trips before this cruise to look forward to (two to Disneyland Paris, one to Hong Kong Disney and also Disneyland, CA).

From that you can probably guess I’m a fairly seasoned long haul traveller, so hopefully I can give some tips for your husband. Long haul isn’t as bad as many people make out. The main thing is make sure you can sleep and have stuff to occupy you. With both of those 10 hours or more can fly by (literally). Can’t guarantee the following will be any good but it works for me and I’ve honed this after many transatlantic flights.

Sleep – make sure you get as much sleep as possible on the US-Europe flight. These are usually overnight flights.

I normally skip the in-flight meal at the beginning and put headphones (with calming music) on, eye mask and blanket and go straight to sleep. If you struggle to sleep take a herbal (or prescription if your Dr will give you one) sleeping tablet about an hour before take off. I find I can get 6 or 7 hours of just about fitful sleep this way (by fitful I mean sleep for an hour then wake up to adjust position then straight to sleep again).

If I have the meal and start watching a film I struggle to get even 2 hrs sleep.

While you’re asleep keep a water bottle handy so you can sip when you wake up to shift position – I find I start to snore, which wakes me up (and isn’t very friendly) because of the dry air unless I sip water everytime I wake to shift position.

I aim to wake myself up about 2 hrs before landing – as this normally coincides with wake up time at your destination. Always eat the breakfast they offer you – usually some bread or fruit or pastries. It’s light but starts your body thinking it is breakfast time and helps time-zone adjustment.

On the Europe to US flight, sleep is less important, but it does help make the flight pass by quicker.

Keeping busy - For any time you plan to be awake assume the onboard films will be awful and have a book, ipod, puzzle book, DS/PSP etc. to keep you busy. Then if the films are ok it’s a bonus. Seriously, a ten hour flight can go so quickly if you sleep and keep busy.

Food – Like I said above, I always skip the in flight dinner on overnight flights from US to Europe. Unless you’re in business class, the food isn’t all that good and you end up waiting for nearly 2 hrs after takeoff for the meal rounds to be completed. That’s 2 hrs less sleep you can get. Have a sandwich or a light meal in the airport instead (the extra sleep is worth paying a few bucks for food imho).

When you get to Europe – eat meals at the correct times for the time zone you have arrived in. Don’t try and adjust slowly, just get into normal breakfast, lunch dinner times. This is actually easier if you skipped dinner on the plane.

Comfort of seat/legroom – Check out Seatguru.com – once you know your airline and what plane type they operate for that flight (most airlines tell you this on the booking info) you can check to see which seats are good and bad. Because you want to sleep pick seats away from toilets/rows behind partitions (used for babies). Emergency rows are usually good if you can get them. When you are travelling as a couple, always go for window and middle (assuming a 3 seat set – you don’t want to be in the aisle seat so a stranger has to push past you from the window seat while you sleep).

Jetlag remedies – Don’t bother with things like melanin – they just delay jetlag starting. You’re better off getting it over and done with before the cruise starts.

Jetlag – my tips - assuming you’ve slept some on the plane try and stay awake until early afternoon (Europe time) on the day you arrive – you’ll feel exhausted but try and stay awake til 3 or 4pm. Then have a maximum 2 hrs nap – I usually have 1 hr, DH has 2 hrs. Use your alarm to make sure you don’t oversleep, oversleeping makes you feel so much worse in the long run.

Then go eat an early dinner and keep yourselves awake until about 9pm.. Set your alarm for 8 am-ish at the latest the next morning and have a normal day (maybe early night at 9/10ish) and this should get you over the worst of the jetlag. Try and keep busy but nothing too exhausting.

I usually end up feeling sleepy and hungry for about 3 or 4 days but stop feeling like death on my second wake up in Europe.

Think that’s probably it really. Other than relax - you’ll be on vacation.

This cruise will be odd for us as we’ll only have a 90 minute flight (instead of the normal 8 or 9 hrs to Orlando) and it is the Americans that will be doing the transatlantics instead.

Hope you’re Colts fans, seeing as you hail from those parts. I’ve been a (very) long-distance Colts fan since I was a little girl. One day I will finally make it to Indianapolis to see them play at home (I’ve seen them play at the Qualcomm in San Diego).
 
Thanks tripodjw for all of the hints and tips. I already shared them with my DH, so hopefully that will help him relax! I will just have to make sure to have all of the necessary "stuff" to help him sleep and relax.

Yes, we are definitely Colts fans! I don't think that you can live in Indiana without being one. Our city went crazy when they won the superbowl! Now that Dungy is gone I think that it is going to take us a while to get back to that level of playing again. If you ever get the chance to come here for a game, you will have to let us know and we could show you around our fair city.

We are really looking forward to this cruise and to meeting all of you. I would be okay with having the ship to ourselves if no one else wants to join us!

Laura
 
Thanks tripodjw for all of the hints and tips. I already shared them with my DH, so hopefully that will help him relax! I will just have to make sure to have all of the necessary "stuff" to help him sleep and relax.

Yes, we are definitely Colts fans! I don't think that you can live in Indiana without being one. Our city went crazy when they won the superbowl! Now that Dungy is gone I think that it is going to take us a while to get back to that level of playing again. If you ever get the chance to come here for a game, you will have to let us know and we could show you around our fair city.

We are really looking forward to this cruise and to meeting all of you. I would be okay with having the ship to ourselves if no one else wants to join us!

Laura

Thanks Laura, appreciate the offer. Like i say, oe day we'll make it there.

Anyway, i have 2 countdown clocks on our computer - both for this cruise:

Today it's only 263 days til we sail, and only 173 days until Castaway club member palo/excursion bookings open up. 173 days is less than 6 months. So that's something to celebrate :banana:
 
My DW posted earlier(ICollectBelle), we will be on the May 15 cruise with our 3 adult children and friends from NY. We are considering taking a few days and going to Paris after the cruise. Any suggestions on the best and fastest way to go from Barcelona to Disneyland Paris?:banana:
 
My DW posted earlier(ICollectBelle), we will be on the May 15 cruise with our 3 adult children and friends from NY. We are considering taking a few days and going to Paris after the cruise. Any suggestions on the best and fastest way to go from Barcelona to Disneyland Paris?:banana:

I would like to know that myself! We are thinking about arriving a couple of days early and heading into Paris instead of Barcelona. We would love to do some site seeing and check out Disneyland Paris before heading to the port. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Laura
 
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