May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[Jeff Spencer]

One thing we've enjoyed doing on our previous DCL cruises is decorating our door. I saw these on the DIS and thought they were so cool.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2172891

Obviously I'm a big Donald Duck fan so I know which one Susan and I will have on our door.

 

[jedijill]

One thing we've enjoyed doing on our previous DCL cruises is decorating our door. I saw these on the DIS and thought they were so cool.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2172891

Obviously I'm a big Donald Duck fan so I know which one Susan and I will have on our door.

If you are looking for the magnet paper I found the best prices on Ebay. If anyone needs magnets printed let me know. I have plenty of sheets of magnet paper from my last cruise and can print your designs on my ink jet printer.

Also, another easy and fun thing is to get the Disney paint samples from Home Depot. They are Mickey Head shapes. I got a bunch of the black and the Alien Green (Disboad colors) cut them out and then put a bit of magnet tape on the back. Very easy door decoration.



Jill in CO

 

[MPS516]

There is a new thread about a "shake" on the Magic. Seems that the 6 day Caribbean Cruisers experienced a side to side shake during their cruise. Some think there may have been damage from the previous cruise when the ship hit a pillar entering port and some saw divers awaiting the ship in St Tomas and PC. Have to guess that anything wrong would be fixed before they tried a transatlantic.

 

[Hilari Smith]

Okay boys and girls... We're a fun loving group of "kids" looking to make some friends! I'm not up with all the lingo yet, but here are the names/ages.

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

Hey LDS guys and gals! We are LDS too; BYU Alum ages 36 and 31....and two additions ages 9 and 4!

 

[Hilari Smith]

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.

Hey rashdecision. I don't think Jason has seen your post about this. I tried to PM you but don't have enough posts....I'll let him know to get you more info.

I think he's still planning on diving. He's used to diving warm temps too, but I think it's hard for him to be on vacation and not dive....

 

[Hilari Smith]

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?

Hey AppleGuy, we booked an easy Jet flight from Barcelona to Paris for 3 nights after the cruise. Where are you staying in Paris? We are still trying to find a family friendly hotel (sleeping 4) for a decent price...

 

[k8e]

In 2008, my friend and I flew up to Paris from Barcelona after our cruise. We flew Vueling (cheap Euro airline). It was a pretty reasonable price. There are several low-cost airlines in Europe you could look into.

 

[peterpanstout]

If you are looking for the magnet paper I found the best prices on Ebay. If anyone needs magnets printed let me know. I have plenty of sheets of magnet paper from my last cruise and can print your designs on my ink jet printer.

Also, another easy and fun thing is to get the Disney paint samples from Home Depot. They are Mickey Head shapes. I got a bunch of the black and the Alien Green (Disboad colors) cut them out and then put a bit of magnet tape on the back. Very easy door decoration.



Jill in CO

Jill, the paint chips are a great idea! No Home Depot here but I did find magnetic paper at the craft center on post! Your paint chips would make a good FE gift.

Jeff, do you know if the three ships that will be in the Barcelona port are doing the same itenerary? We did an Eastern Med. cruise in August last year. It was horrible. Besides the oppressive heat there were lots of ships in every port. It made touring extra difficult.

 

[Pinmeister]

Welcome Frank!

On the weather, I don't think it's going to be as warm as some think! Posted below are the average high and low for May (F).

Barcelona, Spain - 68/53
Valletta, Malta - 74/59
Tunis, Tunisia - 76/56
Naples, Italy - 72/53
Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) - 74/51
La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa) - 74/52
Ajaccio, Corsica - 70/50
Villefranche, France - 67/56

Hi Jeff,
I went to the Blog link you posted. Looks like we were both in WDW at the same time. The weather was cold the week of the marathon, although I didn't take part in it. Of course it was nice by Fri. when we left.

 

[rashdecision]

Hey rashdecision. I don't think Jason has seen your post about this. I tried to PM you but don't have enough posts....I'll let him know to get you more info.

I think he's still planning on diving. He's used to diving warm temps too, but I think it's hard for him to be on vacation and not dive....

Im confused about how many posts I need for people to be able to PM me. I just joined the board so Im a relative newbie. I seemed to be addicted to this board so I check it regularly now so you can put it here if you would like. Im game for diving if he is. My wife will not likely dive the cold waters but I would love to do it just to say "I dove in the med". Just let me know the plans as they evolve. I am actually going to a meeting and then on a spring break cruise with the kids on royal caribbean in mid march from march 4th through the 23 so if you post it then I may miss it. Im actually diving in puerto rico for 3 days in the middle of this trip. Love to be underwater.

 

[Prinny27]

Hi everyone,

I heard back from Mariano at Pleasant Travel regarding a private tour in Naples. Here is an 'overview' of what he emailed me: So, everything can be planned so that you can spend more time at places

which are most important for you and it is possible to "Mix and match"

creating your personalized own tours. To start getting an idea take a

look at my examples of (TAILOR MADE TOUR)-

Our tour begins in Naples Cruis Port at "Dock" From here we will head

south along the motorway, the first to be built in Italy in 1949 under
the rule

of Mussolini. Along this route there is a magnificient view of Mount
Vesuvius

which you can view before arriving at the historical excavations of
Pompei.

Here the choice is yours, buy a map and visit the ruins at your leisure
or have

a guided tour with an expert and discover the magnificient secrets of this

lost city.There is also an audio tour, and you can hire headphones at the

entrance to the excavations. We then continue our journey along the
Sorrentine

coastline until we reach beautiful town of Sorrento where there is time
to take

some photos. From Sorrento we will drive along the world famous Amalfi

coastline, the road winds along to coast and the view is spectacular.

The next stop will be at the statue of The Madonna, which is perched on the

clifftop above the town of Positano which she protects.

We will also have time for an intriguing visit of this amazing town and to

admire the lovely ceramics and hand blown glass products which this area

is famous for, a coffee stop and some shopping, then onto Amalfi.

Amalfi is one of the four maritime republics of Italy, and here you can
visit the

famous St.Andrew's cathedral, St.Andrew is the Patron Saint of the town.

The church has beautiful bronze doors at it's entrance and a precious
altar.

From Amalfi we will drive up the panoramic road to Ravello which was a

popular holiday resort for Jackie Onasis. The town has amazing views

across the Gulf of Salerno, and from the gardens of the Villa Rufolo

you can take photos of some of the most breathtaking views of this

world famous coastline.

For lunch we will stop a typical family restaurant where you can

sample genuine local food and wine. At the end of the day, your ship

awaits, you will have photos and memories galore!

So he said he has room for up to 7 people, so if anyone out there is interested, let me know and I can give you all the details. There's room for 5 more people. I should warn you - DH says we MUST make a stop for some authentic limoncello b/c he loves it, and Mariano says he knows just the place! Let me know if you're interested...

 

[Jeff Spencer]

There is a new thread about a "shake" on the Magic. Seems that the 6 day Caribbean Cruisers experienced a side to side shake during their cruise. Some think there may have been damage from the previous cruise when the ship hit a pillar entering port and some saw divers awaiting the ship in St Tomas and PC. Have to guess that anything wrong would be fixed before they tried a transatlantic.

I had seen that thread and thought it was about milk shakes so ignored it. Very interesting reading. I tend to agree with the ex Coast Guard guy who posted that it would be very unlikely that the problem would be with the main drive system. If there really is a problem I would think too it would be with the stabilization system. We've been on cruises (with other cruise lines) where the seas were rough and there was more creaks, vibration, etc. If the propellers cavitate a bit due to the sea state that could cause the vibrations people were noticing.

 

[LDSsinglegirls]

Hey LDS guys and gals! We are LDS too; BYU Alum ages 36 and 31....and two additions ages 9 and 4!

We've got a few BYU alum in our group as well. Myself included. Go Cougs!

 

[LDSsinglegirls]

Hey AppleGuy, we booked an easy Jet flight from Barcelona to Paris for 3 nights after the cruise. Where are you staying in Paris? We are still trying to find a family friendly hotel (sleeping 4) for a decent price...

Be sure that you look into luggage prices with Easy Jet. I was told that they charge an arm and a leg for luggage, but haven't done the legwork myself.

 

[pixiedust519]

Hey AppleGuy, we booked an easy Jet flight from Barcelona to Paris for 3 nights after the cruise. Where are you staying in Paris? We are still trying to find a family friendly hotel (sleeping 4) for a decent price...

I'm AppleGuy and ICollectBelle's daughter so I can help answer this question too... We ended up booking an EasyJet flight from Barcelona to Paris that leaves at 4pm on the 26th. My dad has Holiday Inn points so we'll be staying at a Holiday Inn that is a little outside of the city (I think near the Montmartre area). Still trying to plan our trip to Paris on top of the cruise - so much planning to do!!

 

[jedijill]

I'm AppleGuy and ICollectBelle's daughter so I can help answer this question too... We ended up booking an EasyJet flight from Barcelona to Paris that leaves at 4pm on the 26th. My dad has Holiday Inn points so we'll be staying at a Holiday Inn that is a little outside of the city (I think near the Montmartre area). Still trying to plan our trip to Paris on top of the cruise - so much planning to do!!

I highly recommend Rick Steves' books for Paris. I spent a week in Paris a couple of years ago....great info and I loved his walks. He has MP3 guides available to download for free from Itunes for a lot of the Paris sights.

BTW, what part of KC do you guys live? I just moved to Denver from KC about 1 1/2 years ago and still own a house in Raymore.

Jill in CO

 

[Pinmeister]

QUOTE=tripodjw;32324569]Cruise meet list

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

1. tripodjw
Jane (32 )
DH - Heath (42 )
Stateroom #GTY
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 GTY
Late seating
Celebrating AppleGuy's b'day (actually May 13)

5. ICollectBelle & AppleGuy's kids (from MO & FL)

Pixiedust519 DD1 - 27
DD2 - 25
Bubby627 DS - 23
Stateroom GTY
Late seating
Celebrating Pixiedust519's b'day - May 19

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


7. - ebony

Jan
DH - Carl
Room #GTY
Late seating

8. Florida Princess

Jean
Walter
Stateoom - GTY
Celebrating 25th Anniversary on ?


9. HappyGrumpy

Ashley (33)
DH - Sam (37)
Stateroom GTY
? seating
Celebrating 10th anniversary

10. sarahgirl

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

11. Travelbee

Connie (39)
DH – Sean (41)
DD7 - Allison

12. Friends of Travelbee

Nelson
Helen
DS2 Colin
DS6 Aiden

13. amackay
Allan (27)
DGF - Genna (28)
Room #GTY

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

15. jeff spencer
Jeff (50)
DW - Susan (48)
DS22 - Brian
DD20 - Katy
Room #GTY

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


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

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

19. abdmom
Cathy (46)
DS14
DS4
DD11
Room #GTY
Early seating

20. Foo Family - Canada

Evelyn
DH
DD8 Jacqueline
DS4 Mathew
Room #GTY

21. jojo6617
Joanne (40)
DH - Michael (42)
DS12 - Perry age 12.

22. leelee9878
Lisa (26)
Barbara (29)
Tracy (29)
Dinner Seating to follow
GTY

23. dawne577
Dawne577
DH
Late dining
GTY

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

25. pilar7
Pilar7
DH – Miguel Angel
DS3
Late

26. AlohaJoe23
DH - 48
DW - 48
DS - 21
DD – 19
Late seating
Stateroom GTY

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

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

29. nanaguide

Carl
Anna

30. scrap disney

Jody
DH - Jeff
DS7 - Ethan
DD9mo - Piper
Stateroom - GTY

31. rashdecision

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

32. jubes

jubes +1
DS9
DD7

33. Hilari Smith

Hilari Smith
DH
DS9
DD4

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

35. STLUCIELADY

STLUCIELADY (45)
DD26
Stateroom: GTY

37. Jenandmartin

Jennifer (36)
DH – Martin (39)
Stateroom: GTY
Late seating

38. princess paula

39. and 40. supercruiser420 and friends

Jon
Sam
Bryan
Emily
Lukas
Corinne
Luke-child
Lucy-Child

Both Staterooms GTY
Late seating

41. Christyvoltron

Christyvoltron
DH

42. DisneyDaysLV

Bryan (42)
Allison

Stateroom GTY

43. peterpanstout

peterpanstout
DH
DS7
Stateroom - 6576

44. Welsh Girl

Natalie (33)
Mark (34)
DD8 Abbie
DS6 Samuel

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)
Dan (46)
room #GTY

48. Kforgys

Kristin (25)
Christopher (29)

49. jedijill

Jill (36)
Sailing solo
GTY

50. Prinny27

Heather (29)
DH - Jared (28)

Room #GTY
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

Anne 49
DH Keller 52
DD Kate 26
DD Mary 21

Room: GTY

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
cat. 12 GTY

57. maddisney

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

58. Pinmeister

Pinmeister
DW[/QUOTE]

Thanks for adding me(Frank 54) & my Wife (Nancy 52)
What do most people do with regards to the shore trips?

 

[Ariel412]

Hello all! I am new to the the Dis Boards, but thought I would make a profile because my mom is always talking about it!! My mom is ICollectBelle, Dad is AppleGuy, Sister is PixieDust519, and brother is Bubby627.

I am so excited for the Mediterranean cruise! It really is getting close... I remember almost a year ago when we booked and it seemed like it would never come!

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Welcome Ariel412.

Hi Frank,

A mixture of Disney shore excursions, self tours and private tours. This will be our 4th Disney cruise and our 9th cruise overall. What I see in general is that folks that are new to cruising tend to go with cruise line tours or do their own thing, i.e., walking around the port on their own. Folks that have cruised a number of times tend to either set up private tours and/or tour on their own by hiring local drivers, utilizing local bus/train service, etc. It all comes down to your comfort level.

DCL has a frequent cruiser program called the Castaway Club. After your first cruise you're eligible to join and will become a "Silver" member. After the 5th cruise, you become a "Gold" member and after your 10th cruise, you're "Platinum". One of the main benefits of the club is early booking of tours, Palo dining and Spa services. Platinum members can book 120 days in advance, Gold, 105 days, Silver 90 days. First time cruisers must wait until 75 days in advance. So, I said all that to get to the fact that only Platinum and Silver members have had a chance to book their excursions to this point.

What I've seen on other cruise threads is that the shore excursions booked get added to the roster you've quoted. For our family, we're doing the following:

Valletta, Malta - Private Tour with UPhotomalta
Tunis, Tunisia - DCL 4X4 Jeep Experience
Naples, Italy - Private Tour with Rudy's Touring Service
Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) - Private Tour with Rudy's Touring Service
La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa) - Private Tour with Rudy's Touring Service
Ajaccio, Corsica - Nothing planned yet
Villefranche, France - Do-it-yourself tour of Nice

 

[jojo6617]

I have used easyjet many times as they so cheap to get around Europe, however they are so strict about extra weight even if you go one kilo over they are really expensive, you are better off paying extra weight when you book.

joanne