Med Cruisers...Let's Discuss Planning!(Updated Tour Info, Links & BCN Info on Page 1)

[ruadisneyfan2]

There are 2 Disney stores in Barcelona. Did anyone visit them? Is it the same stuff you'd see in WDW? I'm wondering if there's anything unique there to make a taxi ride worth it.

 

[disprincess4ever]

There are 2 Disney stores in Barcelona. Did anyone visit them? Is it the same stuff you'd see in WDW? I'm wondering if there's anything unique there to make a taxi ride worth it.

I visited one of the Disney Stores. It was in a mall and had all the same stuff you would find on the disney store website.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

There are 2 Disney stores in Barcelona. Did anyone visit them? Is it the same stuff you'd see in WDW? I'm wondering if there's anything unique there to make a taxi ride worth it.

We went to the one that's in an outdoor mall, but only because it was a stop on the HoHo and we were stopping for lunch. I didn't end up buying anything as it was the same stuff, just more $$$.

 

[Mommb]

We didn't stop at the Disney stores in Barcelona, because we weren't anywhere near them. My daughter and I did stop briefly in the Disney store in Florence, because we were walking right by it as we went from the Uffizi to the Duomo. The only unusual item I saw was a Mickey Mouse T-shirt that said "Italia." I think our driver drove by another Disney store on a ritzy street in Rome, but we didn't stop.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thanks! I won't go out of way to find one then.

 

[ImprovGal]

My friend and I stopped at the one in the Glories shopping center (Diagonal Ave.). It had the same kids stuff that's in the U.S. Disney stores and had absolutely positively no adult merchandise -- not even a pin specific to the city. We just happened to stumble upon the store as we were walking around the shopping center, which was a short walk from our hotel. It was definitely nothing that warranted a special trip.

 

[disprincess4ever]

My friend and I stopped at the one in the Glories shopping center (Diagonal Ave.). It had the same kids stuff that's in the U.S. Disney stores and had absolutely positively no adult merchandise -- not even a pin specific to the city. We just happened to stumble upon the store as we were walking around the shopping center, which was a short walk from our hotel. It was definitely nothing that warranted a special trip.

That's the same store we went to.

 

[lilpooh108]

My friend and I stopped at the one in the Glories shopping center (Diagonal Ave.). It had the same kids stuff that's in the U.S. Disney stores and had absolutely positively no adult merchandise -- not even a pin specific to the city. We just happened to stumble upon the store as we were walking around the shopping center, which was a short walk from our hotel. It was definitely nothing that warranted a special trip.

Wow, I'm so glad we didn't bother. We happened to stop by the London & Paris Disney Stores and they had city-specific tshirts, shopping bags, pins and other items. We had been wondering about Barcelona. This is good to know.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So yet another question...

We'll have 2 ATM cards. One from our regular bank, which charges $2.50 each time. Then an online checking acct which has no fees. I'm not so concerned about the fees, more just worrying that my card won't work or something and I'll have no way to get $. I could always transfer $ from one acct to the other if there's an issue with one card.

Anyway, the one bank says to look for ATMs with the MasterCard logo on it. Did anyone have to do this also? Were there plenty? or rare?
Our other banks says look for the Plus logo.


I'm starting to worry that every machine we find won't be on the network we need.

Also, our hotel in Barcelona has free wifi but that's not safe for banking online right? I've only read an occasion email with hotel wifi & never had to do anything secure/important online while on vacation before.

 

[nzdisneymom]

So yet another question...

We'll have 2 ATM cards. One from our regular bank, which charges $2.50 each time. Then an online checking acct which has no fees. I'm not so concerned about the fees, more just worrying that my card won't work or something and I'll have no way to get $. I could always transfer $ from one acct to the other if there's an issue with one card.

Anyway, the one bank says to look for ATMs with the MasterCard logo on it. Did anyone have to do this also? Were there plenty? or rare?
Our other banks says look for the Plus logo.

I'm starting to worry that every machine we find won't be on the network we need.

Also, our hotel in Barcelona has free wifi but that's not safe for banking online right? I've only read an occasion email with hotel wifi & never had to do anything secure/important online while on vacation before.

We had no problem finding ATM with MasterCard logo in Barcelona. That was the only place we used our ATM though. We took US travelers checks and just exchanged onboard for use in the ports. We did exchange for some Euro before we left home so we had some immediate cash for Barcelona. We were also allowed to cash a personal check onboard. It is usually limited to one time up to $100 but on the 12-night cruises this summer, it was $300 limit.

I would not use the free wifi for banking. However, if you have to do something and the hotel has a wired PC, you could check it for whether it resets everything each time another person uses it... Many do.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We had no problem finding ATM with MasterCard logo in Barcelona. That was the only place we used our ATM though. We took US travelers checks and just exchanged onboard for use in the ports. We did exchange for some Euro before we left home so we had some immediate cash for Barcelona. We were also allowed to cash a personal check onboard. It is usually limited to one time up to $100 but on the 12-night cruises this summer, it was $300 limit.

I would not use the free wifi for banking. However, if you have to do something and the hotel has a wired PC, you could check it for whether it resets everything each time another person uses it... Many do.

Thanks! How do you check to see if it resets each time someone uses it? Does the Magic still have an internet café?

 

[Dug720]

So yet another question...

We'll have 2 ATM cards. One from our regular bank, which charges $2.50 each time. Then an online checking acct which has no fees. I'm not so concerned about the fees, more just worrying that my card won't work or something and I'll have no way to get $. I could always transfer $ from one acct to the other if there's an issue with one card.

Anyway, the one bank says to look for ATMs with the MasterCard logo on it. Did anyone have to do this also? Were there plenty? or rare?
Our other banks says look for the Plus logo.

I'm starting to worry that every machine we find won't be on the network we need.

Also, our hotel in Barcelona has free wifi but that's not safe for banking online right? I've only read an occasion email with hotel wifi & never had to do anything secure/important online while on vacation before.

One note... Make sure your bank is aware of your travel plans! The number of people we get at the store whose cards are declined because their bank has blocked the card due to its use outside of the normal area is kind of absurd. It's a simple phone call or drop into the bank.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

One note... Make sure your bank is aware of your travel plans! The number of people we get at the store whose cards are declined because their bank has blocked the card due to its use outside of the normal area is kind of absurd. It's a simple phone call or drop into the bank.

Thanks, I did do that.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks! How do you check to see if it resets each time someone uses it? Does the Magic still have an internet café?

You can check the history on the Internet browser. If its clear, then the person before you cleared it or the machine clears it. You can test it by surfing a bit, then log out and back in.

The Magic has an Internet cafe area still. Their computers do reset. Not sure if the Internet area will stay or change after dry dock.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

You can check the history on the Internet browser. If its clear, then the person before you cleared it or the machine clears it. You can test it by surfing a bit, then log out and back in.

The Magic has an Internet cafe area still. Their computers do reset. Not sure if the Internet area will stay or change after dry dock.

So basically I could just clear out the history when I'm done? That's easy, if it will allow it. It's easy at home anyway. I know our computers at work don't allow it. I guess that's so they can see where anyone has been.

I'm not worried about after dry dock; the odds of us doing this cruise again in the next 5-10 yrs are pretty slim with kids starting to drive then looking at colleges. Still, this is helpful for others to know too so thanks for clarifying it.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So today was the date we'd be able to buy our tickets to climb the leaning tower of Pisa. I tried late last night just in case they get an early start with the time difference. Not able to click on our date yet. I tried again at 5:30 this morning. Still no listing for our date. When I got home from work, the entire am is completely booked solid. I guess the only way to do it now would be to wait in the long lines.
I wouldn't mind skipping it except when I was there in 1990, no one was allowed to climb to the top & I was a bit disappointed then & really excited that climbing is allowed now.
Oh well, if that's the worst that happens on this trip, I can live with it.

 

[lilpooh108]

So today was the date we'd be able to buy our tickets to climb the leaning tower of Pisa. I tried late last night just in case they get an early start with the time difference. Not able to click on our date yet. I tried again at 5:30 this morning. Still no listing for our date. When I got home from work, the entire am is completely booked solid. I guess the only way to do it now would be to wait in the long lines.
I wouldn't mind skipping it except when I was there in 1990, no one was allowed to climb to the top & I was a bit disappointed then & really excited that climbing is allowed now.
Oh well, if that's the worst that happens on this trip, I can live with it.

Oh no!!

I wonder if they release it in batches, and you might just have to check back periodically in case there release more spaces?

Does DCL also do a climb the tower one? I think that one is pretty $$$$ though.

Here's some pixie dust for you

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Is anyone still planning or just me?

FWIW, this is neat. I though you might like this.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx
If you create a log in and name the Disney ships under My Fleet, anytime you return & click on my fleet it will show you all 4 ships all over the world.
I was watching the Magic dock in Barcelona and noticed a strange time zone they use. (UCT?) It's not local Barcelona time either. So I dug deeper and found this, also helpful too.

http://www.worldtimebuddy.com/

 

[AmericanExPat]

On the 24th of August Magic cruise and our flight doesn't leave until late afternoon after we get back to Barcelona. Looking for an excursion that will take us back to the airport, as I know I saw one somewhere! Can anyone help? We will have had 3 days in BCN before the cruise so will have done most of the big sights by then.

 

[lilpooh108]

On the 24th of August Magic cruise and our flight doesn't leave until late afternoon after we get back to Barcelona. Looking for an excursion that will take us back to the airport, as I know I saw one somewhere! Can anyone help? We will have had 3 days in BCN before the cruise so will have done most of the big sights by then.

Disney does one on disembarkation day depending on your flight time. I think you can only sign up after you get on the cruise.

We ended up going with Barcelona Day Tours (we combo-ed Montserrat with airport drop off). They were great. We also had 3 days prior to our cruise and just took it really slow since we knew we'd get a short tour & Montserrat in before we left. Montserrat never worked out due to a freak storm that day, but it was great to have them pick us up on time. I had asked for quotes from other companies, but honestly I didn't trust unrated/unreviewed companies with my luggage.

There is also luggage storage at the port exit. You can leave stuff there, take a taxi to a Tapas Restaurant and kill some time there. Ciudad Condal and Ceverseria Catalanes both open early, I think at 9:30 a.m. or 10:00 a.m. We did that before the airport and it was fun saying good bye with food