Mediterranean Magic September 9th, 2017

[remlap]

One Year until departure!

 

[cheermom2four]

Hi all, jumped on board this cruise a few days ago and figured I would introduce myself. It will be my DH, me, and all of our kids and one spouse of our oldest child (all a gift to our kids). Age range of our kids is DD5, DS16, DS22, DD28 and her spouse (by then anyways). This is our third cruise on DCL, DD5 and DS16's 2nd cruise, and the other three have never cruised so they are in for an awesome time!!!

We will fly into Barcelona from Colorado Wednesday before the cruise to get our bodies adjusted to time change (8 hours for us and 9 hours difference for two oldest) and to see Barcelona beforehand. We are still in the research stage in regards to tours etc and think we will just book ours outside of Disney as we've done in the past with no problems.

 

[oufpat]

Being this is our first Disney Cruise, and first time to Europe, DH prefers to book excursions through Disney. As the banker in the family, I've begun to research other tour companies, so I'll be curious to see what others are doing.

 

[remlap]

Cruise isn't going to be cancelled now. Airfare has been purchased. I was going to try to use AA miles, but Norwegian Air had a great price from Los Angeles into London Gatwick and then back out of Barcelona on Sunday after we disembark (via Gatwick) Both long hauls on the Dreamliner.

 

[InDisneyDenial]

Cruise isn't going to be cancelled now. Airfare has been purchased. I was going to try to use AA miles, but Norwegian Air had a great price from Los Angeles into London Gatwick and then back out of Barcelona on Sunday after we disembark (via Gatwick) Both long hauls on the Dreamliner.

I went with Norwegian Air as well, Newark to Barcelona. We will be coming in the day before the cruise, and leaving on Sunday too.

 

[remlap]

I went with Norwegian Air as well, Newark to Barcelona. We will be coming in the day before the cruise, and leaving on Sunday too.

Glad to know we weren't the only crazy people buying airfare 11 months in advance.

 

[InDisneyDenial]

Glad to know we weren't the only crazy people buying airfare 11 months in advance.

Not when "crazy" means saving me a ton of money

 

[cheermom2four]

We will be touring on our own in all ports, taking the trains into the city.

We decided to do our own touring also since we have 7 and its too costly through DCL. The trains are hard to figure out but hoping within the next 11 months we can figure it out. So far all I know is definitely make sure we validate our train tickets LOL That advice is everyone on the internet

 

[oufpat]

I'm tempted to book Norwegian Air,Newark to Barcelona. Yes the price is great, especially compared to United. Has anyone used them in the past? I'm just a little concerned about how reliable they are. This is our first trip to Europe and I want it to go smoothly.

 

[remlap]

I'm tempted to book Norwegian Air,Newark to Barcelona. Yes the price is great, especially compared to United. Has anyone used them in the past? I'm just a little concerned about how reliable they are. This is our first trip to Europe and I want it to go smoothly.

Not personally, but when I mentioned it to a coworker that I was thinking of booking it, he said they were great.

For the cost savings, we went for it. One thing on the pricing, they have different tiers. The lowest price doesn't include things like a meal or a checked bag. The second tier was $40 more each way. We sprung for that, however, it's much longer flight from to Europe from California than from the East Coast. We also figured that for a two week trip, it might just be easier to check a bag than try carry on.

 

[InDisneyDenial]

I'm tempted to book Norwegian Air,Newark to Barcelona. Yes the price is great, especially compared to United. Has anyone used them in the past? I'm just a little concerned about how reliable they are. This is our first trip to Europe and I want it to go smoothly.

I was concerned about their reliability as well, but I looked up several reviews online, and decided that I would try them. I will be flying out of Newark as well. I went with the low fare+ so I could choose our seating and have a checked bag.

 

[oufpat]

Anyone researching or booking Barcelona hotels pre and/or post cruise yet ? I'm looking for recommendations, thanks.

 

[remlap]

Anyone researching or booking Barcelona hotels pre and/or post cruise yet ? I'm looking for recommendations, thanks.

We need to figure out when we are arriving in Barcelona but today is 9 months out so probably need to do that soon and book at least a cancelable back up room reservation.

 

[cheermom2four]

Anyone researching or booking Barcelona hotels pre and/or post cruise yet ? I'm looking for recommendations, thanks.

We reserved the pre cruise hotel stay since they have a major holiday a day after we leave on the Magic. I noticed a lot of the hotels that can hold larger families fill up quite fast (we need a 6 person suite) so we booked ours at Up Suites (got the 2 bedroom 3 bath suite) that holds 6. The hotel after the cruise we arent as worried about since nothing is really going on and I even noticed the hotels price drops after their holiday

 

[oufpat]

We decided on Hotel Colon for pre cruise, good reviews on Trip Advisor and I liked the location. Have not chosen a post cruise hotel yet, but prices are lower. I am very excited about this cruise!

 

[GatorMomInNC]

I booked this b2b with the WBTA, but have since been hired for full time job starting next month and can't do both. Heart tells me to do the WBTA, our3rd but head tells me to do the Med cruise, our 1st...if we go it will be me, DH, and DS 13, and DS 10.

 

[OzTink]

Hi all,
Just found this page, whilst searching for graphics. This is our second Disney cruise, we are coming from Australia. Very excited, our flights are booked too Still looking at accommodation.

 

[JusG19]

We are booked for this cruise and can't wait! Is this where we will eventually sign up for the fish extender?

 

[oufpat]

Anyone booking looking into or booking excursions yet? We plan on using Barcelona Day Tours before and after the cruise, but have to wait until June if we want to book any port excursions through Disney.

 

[remlap]

We are booked for this cruise and can't wait! Is this where we will eventually sign up for the fish extender?

You're the first person to mention Fish Extender. We are traveling from California, plus bouncing around Europe the week before the cruise so we won't have luggage space. However, I'm happy to edit the second post on this thread and replace with a link to a google excel doc or similar if someone else wants to organize the fish extenders. (PM me) While not FE, I do hope we all have a DIS meet up on the first day.

8 months to go. We finally agreed to our pre-cruise itinerary, and have hotel rooms booked everywhere except the last night post cruise in Barcelona. CheerMom2Four is correct, September 11 is National Day of Catalonia. Rooms pre-cruise in Barcelona were $$ and certain room types at more than a few hotels were just not available. If you're flying in a day or more early, book your room soon.