May Med Magic - May 15 2010 - Meet thread

[2BNDisney]

I didn't get travel insurance, but I remember reading when I read through the plan offered by Disney--that 'natural disasters' are not covered. I think it mostly covers being unable to travel due to illness (as long as it's not a pre-existing condition), being in a car accident, etc.

Someone on the other thread mentioned they called Disney and they said that if they cannot get to Barcelona the claim through the insurance would most likely be rejected. Does anyone know why? I bought insurance through Travelex, if for some reason things aren't better by then, why would they not cover it?

Really?! We all may all need to try to move our flight to a city further away and try and take a train in?

 

[MPS516]

Friend got out of Amsterdam yesterday, flew south through France across Spain and then back to US, had to stop and refuel in Newark. We usually fly out of Amsterdam across Ireland and then to Minneapolis.

On a positive note, if you felt bad about paying such high airfare, the prices to southern Europe have increased 50 % with so many airports closed.

 

[llkoolj40]

I tried the Kilt on for size and it's way to big for me and the jacket is about 6 sizes too big. I think i'd need to put on about 45lbs for it to fit properly

Funny...I tried on clothes for the cruise too...but they are about 6 sizes too small.
Just wait till the end of the cruise to wear the kilt. All that food and maybe it will fit...

 

[HelenMartinez]

Our family spent the day at Disneyland yesterday for DD's spring break. We all got new annual passes as our way of thanking Mickey for the nice upgrade. Plus it got us into the Disney mode... now we just have to get a camping trip out of the way and it's nothing but cruise planning!! Better get started on the FE gifts...

We were at Disney too last week for my birthday. It definately fgotall of us excited about the crews. The boy even got some new Disney shirts for the cruise! I'd be lost without my annual pass!!

 

[mika6617]

Well this volcano is looking pretty serious, the last time it erupted it continued to do so for over a year.
If it doesn't stop soon it will affect all of us, not just here in Europe but everywhere.
Barcelona and the surrounding airports are now closed until further notice.
It will be a long drive from the UK, even longer for our American cousins.
Come on everyone pray for it to stop.

 

[Jeff Spencer]

I would suspect the jet engine manufacturers are doing some testing to gauge how susceptible their engines REALLY are to these particles. I would also guess there's some better characterization going on as to particulate size and count in the ''cloud". Finally, I'm quite sure there is massive replanning of air routes to circumnavigate the worst of the cloud. It can already been seen now with the number of flights doubling. Bottom line is the airlines aren't going to stay shut down indefinitely...they can't or they will all go out of business. Furthermore, global commerce and communications depend upon the airlines so there's massive incentives to find ways to work around the problem.

 

[tripodjw]

I would suspect the jet engine manufacturers are doing some testing to gauge how susceptible their engines REALLY are to these particles. I would also guess there's some better characterization going on as to particulate size and count in the ''cloud". Finally, I'm quite sure there is massive replanning of air routes to circumnavigate the worst of the cloud. It can already been seen now with the number of flights doubling. Bottom line is the airlines aren't going to stay shut down indefinitely...they can't or they will all go out of business. Furthermore, global commerce and communications depend upon the airlines so there's massive incentives to find ways to work around the problem.

There's been a lot of tests today by the airlines - both BA and KLM sent up planes with their chief executives onboard. For me that's a fairly big vote of confidence that it's starting to become safe to fly - certainly on the edges of the ash cloud.

My parents were supposed to be flying to Milan tomorrow and their flight has been cancelled. Hopefully things will start to improve over the next couple of days.

 

[leelee9878]

I am currently in the process of booking a group cruise for my family in Nov. 2011. I am able to set up the group on Tuesday APril 20th, which I want to do because I want to make sure that they have availability. However, I know that there are benefits to booking on board. Does anyone know what the current benefits are, and how many staterooms I would be able to book? Also, does anyone know if I would be able to book Tuesday and then re-book onboard to take advanatge of the perks? Lastly, I am using a travel agent for all of this, does anyone know how they can get credit for my booking, has anyone used a TA before and booked onboard?

 

[jedijill]

I am currently in the process of booking a group cruise for my family in Nov. 2011. I am able to set up the group on Tuesday APril 20th, which I want to do because I want to make sure that they have availability. However, I know that there are benefits to booking on board. Does anyone know what the current benefits are, and how many staterooms I would be able to book? Also, does anyone know if I would be able to book Tuesday and then re-book onboard to take advanatge of the perks? Lastly, I am using a travel agent for all of this, does anyone know how they can get credit for my booking, has anyone used a TA before and booked onboard?

I'll try to answer your questions. You can only rebook the same number of cabins as you are sailing. So, if you only have one cabin on the Med..you can only rebook 1 cabin for the future cruise. When I rebooked in November, I paid 50% deposit, 10% off, and an OBC (which varied depending on length of cruise.) I just gave them my TA's name and they sent the confirmation to her after I got back from my cruise.

HTH

Jill in CO

 

[Jeff Spencer]

As I suspected. This from CNN:

-- EU official: Test flights show no impact in European air space from volcanic ash that has disrupted air travel this week.

 

[jlwhitney]

In jan. we booked two cabins with the discount and obc...and only had one cabin on the sailing...we booked for us and my dh parents.

 

[sarahgirl]

I would suspect the jet engine manufacturers are doing some testing to gauge how susceptible their engines REALLY are to these particles. I would also guess there's some better characterization going on as to particulate size and count in the ''cloud". Finally, I'm quite sure there is massive replanning of air routes to circumnavigate the worst of the cloud. It can already been seen now with the number of flights doubling. Bottom line is the airlines aren't going to stay shut down indefinitely...they can't or they will all go out of business. Furthermore, global commerce and communications depend upon the airlines so there's massive incentives to find ways to work around the problem.

Ah, it's nice to have a rocket scientist here to keep us up to date.

 

[mika6617]

Well watching the national news it seems that all UK and most European airports are closed until Monday/Tuesday where they will asses the situation then. Reading between the lines however it looks like they will be grounded for another few days at least.
Who would have thought it eh? waiting for a volcano to halt its eruptions.

 

[Travelbee]

Im impressed but you guys may be getting a bit too high tec for this east tennessee redneck. Im not sure I know what a PDF is but I think I have treated it with Ampicillin in the past with good results.

LOL. It's just the format of Adobe Reader files.

I would suspect the jet engine manufacturers are doing some testing to gauge how susceptible their engines REALLY are to these particles. I would also guess there's some better characterization going on as to particulate size and count in the ''cloud". Finally, I'm quite sure there is massive replanning of air routes to circumnavigate the worst of the cloud.

Now who sounds like the engineer??

I am currently in the process of booking a group cruise for my family in Nov. 2011. I am able to set up the group on Tuesday APril 20th, which I want to do because I want to make sure that they have availability. However, I know that there are benefits to booking on board. Does anyone know what the current benefits are, and how many staterooms I would be able to book? Also, does anyone know if I would be able to book Tuesday and then re-book onboard to take advanatge of the perks? Lastly, I am using a travel agent for all of this, does anyone know how they can get credit for my booking, has anyone used a TA before and booked onboard?

If you rebook onboard, Disney will essentially cancel your other reservation and give you a new one with the OBC, 10% off and 50% deposit. However, the original reservation is booked with a TA, then you'll have to cancel that reservation when you get home so you'd have to put two deposits for the same cruise for a short while. You can book up to the number of passengers on your reservation while onboard - meaning if there's a party of 3 under your reservation, you can book up to three staterooms while onboard and all three staterooms will get the onboard rebooking benefits.

 

[ebony]

I've emailed you twice, I guess something is up with the email.

Disname- sarahgirl
real name- Sarah
request 1 lanyard

Sara I dont know whats happened, but you are added to the top of the list now.

 

[sarahgirl]

Sara I dont know whats happened, but you are added to the top of the list now.

LOL its ok Ebony. I just got worried every time I saw the list that I wasn't going to make it because the emails weren't getting received and I wanted to make sure I on it. How could I sit at the same table as Jeff, HIS FAMILY and the single ladies, if I didn't have my Disboards lanyard. How embarrassing!

 

[sayhello]

Well, I took the leap and ordered the 3G IPad. Never owned an apple product but this was too cool to pass up. Now I have to wait until end of April and hope it arrives before we leave! The travel apps are sweet but I will need to look to see how expensive it will be to travel with it.

Congrats! I got an iPad, too! I'm really, REALLY hoping the camera accessory is available by the end of this month like they said it would be. I'm curious what you mean by "how expensive it will be to travel with it."?? And what travel apps have you found???

I called my insuremytrip.com to find out the scoop on if my flights got cancelled due to the ash, and so far, the the official answer is "We don't know". The wording on my policy is if "weather" causes a cancellation of services for more than 24 hours, but they said there is some question as to whether this really counts as "weather" or not, or is simply a "natural disaster", which is handled very differently than "weather". The representative said claims are starting to come in, and they'll have a better idea next week after they see how those claims are being handled. So there's no guarantee I'd be covered if I miss the cruise due to not being able to fly there... A little scary, but I'm not going to start worrying now... I don't have many alternatives anyway. Can't exactly drive or take a train...

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

LOL its ok Ebony. I just got worried every time I saw the list that I wasn't going to make it because the emails weren't getting received and I wanted to make sure I on it. How could I sit at the same table as Jeff, HIS FAMILY and the single ladies, if I didn't have my Disboards lanyard. How embarrassing!

Actually, that's "the single folks" now, as Blake will be joining us!

Sayhello

 

[sarahgirl]

Congrats! I got an iPad, too! I'm really, REALLY hoping the camera accessory is available by the end of this month like they said it would be. I'm curious what you mean by "how expensive it will be to travel with it."?? And what travel apps have you found???

I called my insuremytrip.com to find out the scoop on if my flights got cancelled due to the ash, and so far, the the official answer is "We don't know". The wording on my policy is if "weather" causes a cancellation of services for more than 24 hours, but they said there is some question as to whether this really counts as "weather" or not, or is simply a "natural disaster", which is handled very differently than "weather". The representative said claims are starting to come in, and they'll have a better idea next week after they see how those claims are being handled. So there's no guarantee I'd be covered if I miss the cruise due to not being able to fly there... A little scary, but I'm not going to start worrying now... I don't have many alternatives anyway. Can't exactly drive or take a train...

Sayhello

Didn't you hear about the underwater train that goes from Ohio to Europe?

 

[sarahgirl]

Actually, that's "the single folks" now, as Blake will be joining us!

Sayhello

Yes I know that but it's not as funny when you say that.