May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[Jeff Spencer]

I may just skip breakfast, and get something once I'm off the ship.
Sayhello

Therein lies the biggest problem with holding on to your luggage. Toting it to breakfast is a PITA. We have enough trouble finding room for our backpacks and carryon much less 4 large, 50 lb suitcases.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Thanks again for your insight into this. I still haven't made up my mind on whether to take our luggage or not upon disembarkation.

I think most of us are grabbing flights connecting from/to North America. Do you have any advice on checking in with the foreign airline leg of the flight?

Also, I am trying to get some confirmation for those of us that have connections, do we clear customs at the first point of entry into the EC which in our case is Frankfurt or at the final destination which would be Barcelona? We only have a 55 minute transfer window before boarding our Frankfurt leg on our way over to Barcelona so if customs gets in the way, we could risk missing our flight.

We've only used US based carriers so can't help you on the first question...I would guess though that it wouldn't be appreciably different than a domestic carrier flying internationally, i.e., passport, boarding passes.

In 2007 we had a connection going to and coming from Barcelona in Amsterdam. We definitely had to clear customs in Amsterdam when we were going to Barcelona and it was insane because we only had a 45 minute connection window! As it turned out, there was an "Quick Connection" Customs lane there that we were able to get through very quickly. Unfortunately, one of our bags wasn't so lucky and didn't make the flight with us. We picked it up the next day since we'd flown into Barcelona a day early. I'd call your airline and express your concern and see what they say.

 

[rashdecision]

does anyone know if all the stops are ports or are we tendering at some locations. Just curious. Holy cow, less than a month and a half to go. Getting quite excited.

 

[sayhello]

Hmmm, now I'm glad I picked the flight I did. Even though I have a stop in Madrid, it's *technically* a non-stop, because we're not changing planes. So I'm assuming I'll be clearing customs in Barcelona, not Madrid...

On the other hand, coming back, I'm flying Tel Aviv to Madrid to the US. With only a bit over an hour in between. That could be ugly.

I think I should probably call the airline & get the skinny on all that!

Sayhello

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Jane (tripodjw) - Can you please add my friends (Helen & Nelson) to the FE list? They have decided to participate as well.




In addition to the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel, there's also a deal for the 4-star Hotel Avenida Palace through Travelzoo. The cost is $127 (92€) per night and includes a free guaranteed upgrade to a suite and buffet breakfast. It's supposed to be two blocks from Las Ramblas.

Follow the direction on this link to get the deal: http://hotels.travelzoo.com/international-hotels/773298

Shows not available for me.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

does anyone know if all the stops are ports or are we tendering at some locations. Just curious. Holy cow, less than a month and a half to go. Getting quite excited.

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.

 

[sarahgirl]

OMG, it SNOWED here overnight! At least 2 inches, probably closer to 3, and it stuck, and it's STILL OUT THERE! The roads, except for the major highways, are solid ice. It's starting to warm up, so I'm hopeful things will be better before the evening commute, but this is just WRONG in *so* many ways!!!!

Damn, I need a vacation!

Sayhello

Calm down, its just a little snow. Nothing going to kill you . (of course this is coming from someone who was born and raised in the snow capital, Buffalo NY)

 

[jojo6617]

I absolutely love the snow you get used to the cold living in the north east of england.Good job im not an eskimo look at my attempt of a igloo.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Is that your son Perry in the picture?

 

[JoeUK]

Surely the room assignments should be coming any time soon! Looking at the other cruises: Apr 24th cruisers got their cat 12 gty room assignments on March 5th (50 Days out) and May 5th cruisers got their cat 12 gty room assignments on March 18th (48 Days out). Do the room assigners at DCL work weekends? Or shall I give up checking until next week!?

 

[Greg M]

Thanks for the suggestions for accommodations. Our TA has recommended Eurostars Cristal Palace and it has gotten pretty good reviews so I may just go with that.

Are the taxi drivers fair and honest in Barcelona or are there certain types of taxis to be on the look out for?

 

[jojo6617]

Is that your son Perry in the picture?

Yes Jeff that's him taking all the glory after all my hard work, by that stage i was hypothermic LOL!!!!!!


I have logged on to disney soooo many times today to check for room assignment, guess I need to be Patient.

 

[Foo Family - Canada]

Thanks again for your insight into this. I still haven't made up my mind on whether to take our luggage or not upon disembarkation.

I think most of us are grabbing flights connecting from/to North America. Do you have any advice on checking in with the foreign airline leg of the flight?

Also, I am trying to get some confirmation for those of us that have connections, do we clear customs at the first point of entry into the EC which in our case is Frankfurt or at the final destination which would be Barcelona? We only have a 55 minute transfer window before boarding our Frankfurt leg on our way over to Barcelona so if customs gets in the way, we could risk missing our flight.

Hello everyone,

Just found out from my connecting airline Lufthansa that you go through customs on the final destination in Europe and first point of entry in North America so at least for those of us connecting, customs won't slow us down....

 

[abdmom]

Hello everyone,

Just found out from my connecting airline Lufthansa that you go through customs on the final destination in Europe and first point of entry in North America so at least for those of us connecting, customs won't slow us down....

Does that mean that on the way back, we clear customs during our connection in Europe?

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Thanks for the suggestions for accommodations. Our TA has recommended Eurostars Cristal Palace and it has gotten pretty good reviews so I may just go with that.

Are the taxi drivers fair and honest in Barcelona or are there certain types of taxis to be on the look out for?

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.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Does that mean that on the way back, we clear customs during our connection in Europe?

If you mean US Customs, that would be at your point of entry to the US.

Edit: I may have been wrong on my response about EU Customs at port of Barcelona. The only non-EU port we visit is Tunis, Tunisia. It may be that the Magic takes care of any EU Customs needs at our next port which is Naples. Also, with the ship arriving in Barcelona at 4 am, there's plenty of time for them to get your luggage off the ship and in the terminal by 7 am, which is when they start allowing people off the ship.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

Checked the Port of Barcelona web site and they now have the cruise ship arrival/departure information up in a pdf file. It shows the Magic's arrival into Barcelona at 4 am for each of the Med cruises and departing at 9:30 pm (departure time consistent with what DCL had posted previously).

 

[Foo Family - Canada]

Does that mean that on the way back, we clear customs during our connection in Europe?

My understanding is that you'd clear customs upon entry to North America i.e. if your destination was U.S. or Canada you'd clear customs there not in Europe.

 

[tripodjw]

Customs varies from country to country and airport to airport.

Going into the US you always go though immigration and customs at the first US airport you land at. To go through customs you lways have to collect your luggage, take it through customs yourself and then hand it back to airport personnel if you are on a connecting flight.

In Europe it depends. Wherever you pick up your hold luggage is where you will clear customs. This can

Theoretically there is free movement of goods and services between EU countries (so jeff is correct we will clear a EU customs the first port after Tunisia). however , even allowing for free movement of goods - each country has nominal customs amounts (usualy obscenely high amounts of booze and tobacco) which are actually more related to whether they think you are re-selling the tobacco/alcohol.

The ship will probably have to "technically" clear customs in each EU country on the basis of its size and the possiblity of carrying passengers/crew from more unusual countries (non-EU/US/CA) but this will be a formality and v quick (unless a problem is suspected).

Don't forget irrespective of customs clearing it may still be necessary to go through immigration in barcelona (the ports of call should be ok as DCl will deal with this) but the final destination of barca will likely require passport control. This is certainly the case at port canaverel for non-US cruisers.

 

[Greg M]

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 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.

Wow thanks Jeff! You are a fountain of knowledge and your expertise is much appreciated!!

Ok I am finally through with the pre-cruise hotel search We will be staying at the Gran Hotel Torre Catalunya. Now I think I have all my bases covered so I can go back to checking my GTY status every 5 minutes