Nobody EXPECTS the Spanish Reposition!!! Taking the Magic Back to the Med 4/10/10

[auntlynne]

Anyone notice thossink's newest logos in the siggie?

 

[auntlynne]

Missed the 00:01 sign-up. Was asleep until 12:20 am. No long-distance swimming Mickeys and fishes for me.

Excursions:

Castaway Cay: Seahorse Catamaran Snorkel Adventure
Madeira: Catamaran Whale & Dolphin Watching
Gibraltar: Dolphin World Cruise
Palo Brunch & Dinner

We get off the boat in port, just to get on a smaller boat. Brilliant.

We've waited 2 years for Karen to turn 16 so she could ride the wave runner by herself. Now the age is 18. So we picked parasailing - no availability. Default: catamaran sail.

Madeira: open slot is during the parade. But at least we'll see whales.

Gibraltar: best success so far. We've got a morning (8:15-10:15) dolphin cruise, then we can head up the Rock via cable car -- like the idea of walking there (thanks, Jan), followed by afternoon 10-pin bowling (that's just plain 'ole bowling to you Americans, not to be confused with lawn bowling or cricket).

Still have our reservations for Barcelona Segway & Go Cars.

Looking at taking the train to Seville; just getting into that research. Noticed they have Segway there, too (a little cheaper).

 

[auntlynne]

When I was signing up (12:30 - 1:00 am), this is what was available:

Palo Brunch

Day 3: 11:30

Day 4: 11:30

Day 5: ---

Day 6: 11:30

Day 7: 11:00, 11:30

Day 8: 10:30, 11:00, 11:30

Day 10: 10:30, 11:00, 11:30

Day 13: 10:30, 11:00, 11:30

Palo Dinner: every 30 min 6:00 - 9:00 (inclusive)

Day 1: all
Day 2: all
Day 3: 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30, 9:00
Day 4: all except 8:00
Day 5: 7:00, 8:00, 8:30, 9:00
Day 6: all
Day 7: all except 6:00
Day 8: all
Day 9: ?? my activity overlapped 6:00-7:30, but 8:00, 8:30, 9:00 avail
Day 10: all except 8:00
Day 11: all
Day 12: all
Day 13: all
Day 14: all

Both brunch & dinner said there were tables for 1-2
No tea availability

Don't forget to check onboard for reservations.

 

[realfam]

We just booked Palo brunch for day 7 at 11:30am
We don't do palo for dinner because we enjoyed eating dinner with the kids, and couldn't figure out why high tea wasn't available for booking yet.

 

[Mrs. Gumdrop]

I could be wrong, but I think even if the reservations are linked, there still needs to be a silver member listed in their room with them in order to get the silver benefits. For Palo, it was ok because their reservation is technically on your reservation (since they are dining with you) so the system let it happen, but with the others, I think that it will make them wait.

I actually called the Castaway Club line and ask about this. They said that because you are setting the size of the table in the dinning room, you can book all of the folks on your reservation at once. I was able to book a tea, but only for 3 ppl -- I guess the other table sizes were booked up.

Hello, all -
After a loooong hiatus, I will try to re-join the thread - some 120 pages later! (I've read about half of them so far)

Welcome back disdel!

 

[rbcheek]

Well, here comes the Lurker....

We got all the reservations we wanted except Tea - not available

day 8 - Palo Brunch 11 am
day 9 - Madeira - Unforgettable West Madeira (looks like alot of us will be there)
day 11 - Cadiz - Jarez & Arcos de La Frontera - 8 am
day 12 - Gibraltar - City under Siege - 9 am
Palo dinner - 8 pm (Barbara's B-Day)
day 14 - Barcelona - Panoramic Drive - 9:45 am

now other than these things and Bunco, I got a whole lot of nothing planned

Oh, and Barbara wants in on the Secret Micky

 

[Brooklyn]

Hi Everyone!

Last night while we were counting down to DCL reservations opening up our family also had a countdown for an hour earlier.

At 8PM PST (an hour before DCL opened up for reservations) the cast list for the show Brooklyn auditioned for was announced live online.

So 8 comes and the announcements start. They were procrastinating and procrastinating and finally started to announce for her show. The show is Sleeping Beauty. This theatre group has spend 5 years writing the script and the music and it is the first time it will be played on stage. Sleeping Beauty is one that has never really taken off in the musical world so I an excited to see how it all comes together. The guy who wrote the music is just amazing so I am super excited about that!

Well they started at the bottom of the list and worked their way up. Townspeople were read and she was not on that. Some cheers but then they read the little kids ensembles (forest animals and little princesses) and Brooklyn's name was read. Now even though we were very happy she was in the show we were hoping for a better part.

Now they continue through the list. They then list the parts she would have wanted, the fairies. In this show there are more then 3 fairies. There were the 3 main ones but there were also others that she was hoping for. Then they start listing the rest of the supporting roles. DD's friends got cast in some so we were super excited.

Then we are down to the last three parts. The last 2 were Sleeping Beauty and the Prince but they were also casting a youger version of Sleeping Beauty at age 10. Well when they said "Brooklyn" this house errupted with screams, yells and cheers. Brooklyn's reaction was PRICELESS!!! She jumped on me, screaming, yelling and crying. We are so proud of her! She is pretty new to this theatre group.

Ok back to your regular scheduled programming...I just had to hijack for a minute!

Oh and after all that....I totally forgot to log on to DCL website and book anything! Oh well, for now we are on and I will worry about all of that later!

Lynne - thanks for setting up the other thread!!!! YIPEE! It drove me so nuts that we could not update the front page!!!!

 

[Brooklyn]

I got a whole lot of nothing planned

I love it! That is going to be us!

 

[Mrs. Gumdrop]

Hi Everyone!

Last night while we were counting down to DCL reservations opening up our family also had a countdown for an hour earlier.

At 8PM PST (an hour before DCL opened up for reservations) the cast list for the show Brooklyn auditioned for was announced live online.

So 8 comes and the announcements start. They were procrastinating and procrastinating and finally started to announce for her show. The show is Sleeping Beauty. This theatre group has spend 5 years writing the script and the music and it is the first time it will be played on stage. Sleeping Beauty is one that has never really taken off in the musical world so I an excited to see how it all comes together. The guy who wrote the music is just amazing so I am super excited about that!

Well they started at the bottom of the list and worked their way up. Townspeople were read and she was not on that. Some cheers but then they read the little kids ensembles (forest animals and little princesses) and Brooklyn's name was read. Now even though we were very happy she was in the show we were hoping for a better part.

Now they continue through the list. They then list the parts she would have wanted, the fairies. In this show there are more then 3 fairies. There were the 3 main ones but there were also others that she was hoping for. Then they start listing the rest of the supporting roles. DD's friends got cast in some so we were super excited.

Then we are down to the last three parts. The last 2 were Sleeping Beauty and the Prince but they were also casting a youger version of Sleeping Beauty at age 10. Well when they said "Brooklyn" this house errupted with screams, yells and cheers. Brooklyn's reaction was PRICELESS!!! She jumped on me, screaming, yelling and crying. We are so proud of her! She is pretty new to this theatre group.

Ok back to your regular scheduled programming...I just had to hijack for a minute!

Oh and after all that....I totally forgot to log on to DCL website and book anything! Oh well, for now we are on and I will worry about all of that later!

Lynne - thanks for setting up the other thread!!!! YIPEE! It drove me so nuts that we could not update the front page!!!!

GREAT news for a sleepy Sunday. Congratulations to Brooklyn!

 

[adedward]

Wow, I slept in till 9:00, I guess to make up for hopping up when I woke at 3:30 and staying up to make reservations. Now things are getting exciting, aren't they? We have Views and Parks, Fortress Gibralter, Mountain Villages, and half day Montserrat, plus a Palo brunch as we sail from Madeira to Cadiz (just seemed like that would be a good time to reflect on our first port and talk about/get excited for our second). We signed up for a Palo dinner, but haven't decided yet whether to really do that one.

 

[woody73]

I think I got it figured out - at least I hope I do not see any swimming fishes.
WB PCer's know what I mean!

All too well!

Woody

 

[woody73]

anyone else want to shoot swimming mickey?

LOL!

Woody

 

[bound2travel]

Missed the 00:01 sign-up. Was asleep until 12:20 am. No long-distance swimming Mickeys and fishes for me.

Excursions:

Castaway Cay: Seahorse Catamaran Snorkel Adventure
Madeira: Catamaran Whale & Dolphin Watching
Gibraltar: Dolphin World Cruise
Palo Brunch & Dinner

QUOTE]

Like dolphins and whales I see

Kristi

 

[bound2travel]

I see so many for the Unforgettable West Madeira that I may choose that one. But I was really hoping to stop in Camara de Lobos at least for photos. It's suppose to be beautiful.

I don't know - Views and Park and the 4x4 sound interesting too.

Kristi

 

[woody73]

. . . they were also casting a youger version of Sleeping Beauty at age 10. Well when they said "Brooklyn" this house errupted with screams, yells and cheers. Brooklyn's reaction was PRICELESS!!!

Great news! Congratulations to Brooklyn.

Woody

 

[adedward]

Got this answer on the main boards to my question about Montserrat. Shortened slightly here, but wanted to pass it on to those who may be interested, and though Lynne might want to have it for the web site/new first page.

Barcelona To Montserrat by Train

Instructions on how to travel from Barcelona to Montserrat by train. care there are different ticket types including the options for the cable car or rack railway up to the top of the mountain. Book the right one!

How to Travel by Train to Montserrat

You can travel to Montserrat by train which you catch from Espanya rail station.The Espanya rail station is on the green and red metro lines making it very accessible from any part of Barcelona city centre that has a metro stop.
Once at Espanya look for Line R5 headed towards Manresa. It's advisable to arrive at Espanya station in plenty of time as it can be a little confusing to find R5 track. The Espanya rail station is quite large and the directions to the R5 track could be clearer. Its sub level, like a underground train, two platforms at the end of the line.

Placa Espanya station is huge and has many surface entrances to the station below ground. It can be very confusing for tourists to find their way around especially as each entrance only has partial information about the lines that you will access from any particular entrance. The best advice here is just to ignore the line information displayed as you enter a surface entrance to the underground station and just enter the nearest surface entrance you can find. Once you are underground look for signs for the R5 track. You may have to walk around a little but you will find it eventually!

Train Timetable Barcelona To Montserrat

This train timetable information was last updated on January 2009. Timetable information can change without our notice and we therefore recommend that you check this timetable information at the Montserrat information desk at Placa Espanya at the entrance to R5 railway line.
Barcelona Montserrat-Aeri Montserrat
8:36 9:40 9:47
9:36 10:40 10:47
10:36 11:40 11:47
11:36 12:40 12:47
12:36 13:40 13:47
13:36 14:40 14:47
14:36 15:40 15:47
15:36 16:40 16:47
16:36 17:40 17:47
17:36 18:40 18:47
Train Timetable Montserrat to Barcelona
Montserrat Montserrat-Aeri Barcelona
9:40 9:48 10:51
10:40 10:48 11:51
11:40 11:48 12:51
12:40 12:48 13:51
13:40 13:48 14:51
14:40 14:48 15:51
15:40 15:48 16:51
16:40 16:48 17:51
17:40 17:48 18:51
18:40 18:48 19:51

Train Tickets To Montserrat With Tickets Offering Optional Extras.
Tickets are purchased at Placa Espanya station from ticket booths just in front of Line R5 to Manresa. You will find attendants there that will explain the ticket prices to you. They speak English, Spanish and Catalan. There are automated machines, these are easy to use, but mainly in Spainish
Make sure you buy the right tickets!
First you need to decide do you want the Cable Ride (Aeri ticket version) to the Monastery after the train journey from Barcelona or do you want the Cremallera Funicular ride to the Monastery (Cremallera ticket version) . Just to explain the train from Espanya station takes you to the foot of Montserrat mountain then you have these two options Cable car or Cremallera Funicular to actually go up the mountain to the Monastery. You will see below you also need to get off the train at different stops depending on which one you decide to take.
When you purchase your tickets to travel to Montserrat at Espanya Station you need to ensure to purchase the correct type of ticket. There are two versions of all the tickets listed in the table below. There is one ticket for the route with the Cable Car (Aeri) to the Monastery and the other ticket type is to go up to the Monastery by the Cremallera Funicular.

Ticket Name Description Price (Euros)
Adult Single Single journey to Montserrat. Includes train fare from Barcelona Espanya to Montserrat . You have the option of buying a ticket for either the cable car ride up to the monastery (Get off at train stop Montserrat Aeri) or the Track Train ride up to Montserrat Cremallera funicular (Get off at train stop Monistrol) 8.85
Adult Return The same ticket as above however a return ticket. 15.50
Child Single As for adult single above however for children 6.55
Child Return As for adult return above however for children 12.00
Pensioners Single As for adult single but for pensioners 8.35
Pensioners Return As for adult return but for pensioners 14.80

Trans Montserrat Ticket This special combined ticket includes several different return train fares all in the one ticket. It could save you money if you want to not only see the monastery at Montserrat but also if you want to take the funicular mountain trains from the monastery to different parts of the mountain. The ticket includes the following:
1. Return train fare from Barcelona to Montserrat, either with the Cable car ride option to the monastery, or if you prefer the Track Train mountain train ride - but remember you need to specify which when you buy this ticket because they are not interchangeable. You either buy a Cable Car version or you buy the Cremallera version of this ticket. Once you have selected your ticket version you cannot use the other method.
2. The ticket also includes 2 return journeys on 2 different funicular rides (funicular is a mountain train that goes up steep slopes). You catch these funicular rides once you arrive at the monastery and not to be confused with the funicular ride to the Monastery from the train from Barcelona which is called the cremallera funicular. These funicular rides give you access to different parts of the mountain and you will be able to visit the very top of Montserrat mountain as well as visit Santa Cova cave. You will also be able to go on some mountain walks with amazing views. Normally you would have to purchase the funicular tickets separately once you arrive at Montserrat but with this ticket the two funicular return rides are included in the price.
3. You also have 2 free metro rides with this ticket worth 2.60 euros.
There are no discounts for pensioners or children with this ticket because the ticket already offers a discount for the fares. e.g. if you purchased the funicular rides separately (once you arrived at Montserrat monastery) you would need to pay an additional 6.60 euros return or 4.15 euros single for the funicular from the Monastery to the top of Montserrat mountain and/or another 2.70 euros return or 1.70 euros single for the funicular ride to Santa Cova Cave from the Monastery.
4.Access to the audio visual area on Montserrat.
Although it is possible to walk both of these destinations from the Monastery it is not recommended because it is pretty steep and not an easy walk.
22.50
ToT Montserrat Ticket This literally means "All Montserrat" This ticket includes everything that the Trans Montserrat ticket mentioned above and in addition you have free entry into the Montserrat museum (entry price to museum is 6.50 euros for adult or 5.50 euros for pensioners) plus an included lunch at the restaurant at Montserrat. The restaurant offers a buffet lunch. Standard lunch free, things like large size, or drinks extra.Limited hours say 12 noon to 2pm, check! 36.95

Journey Times To Montserrat From Barcelona And Train Stops To Get Off At.
The Journey time to Montserrat from Barcelona Espanya station is approximately one hour by train.

I recommend that you arrive in plenty of time at Espanya rail station because there are often queues to buy the tickets and the trains to Montserrat leave on time.

Espanya Station Montserrat Tourist Information Help

Look out for the helpful Montserrat tourist information people at the stands just at the entrance to the Montserrat trains at Espanya station. We recommend you say hello to Cluny when you are there. He and his collegues are there to help you and they say it really makes their day when the tourists appreciate their help. We would like to say a big thanks to Cluny for helping us put the information together on this page.

Stay vigilant at Espanya Station

We have also been informed by Montserrat information office based at Espanya station that tourists have been regularly pick-pocketed at Espanya rail station when they are trying to purchase tickets from the automatic ticket booths. They recommend you stay vigilant especially when at the ticket vending machines. They say this is a daily occurance and although the police have been informed the pickpockets still return. The best way is pay attention at Espanya station when purchasing your tickets. Please don´t let these petty theives spoil your visit!

Montserrat Museum

There is no entrance fee to the Monastery however if you wish to visit the museum the entrance fee would cost 6.50 euros for adults or 5.50 euros for pensioners.

 

[rbcheek]

Congrats to Brooklyn, so, how is the little Sleeping Beauty?

 

[sdlong329]

BEER DRINKERS: DCL offers a tall, 22 oz. glass DCL-branded beer mug, available for purchase ($14.95). The beer mug can be pre-purchased online (DCL Amenities and Gifts, BEV BEER MUG PK, $14.95), or at any onboard bar. Quite simply, withi this mug, you can get a 22 oz refill of beer, for the price of 16 oz. What's neat is that you do not have to carry the mug around with you everywhere you go, for the entire cruise. "If you find the mug too heavy to carry while onboard, then take advantage of the beer mug token," which allows you to turn in your empty mug (get a token). When you want another beer, redeem your token for a fresh mug - pay ONLY for 16 oz of beer - but get 22 ounces in a mug. The mug is yours to keep for your return trip home.

 

[Brooklyn]

Congrats to Brooklyn, so, how is the little Sleeping Beauty?

She is still on Cloud 9. She woke up this morning, jumped out of bed and said "I am SO happy!"

 

[ilovedale3]

Stayed up till midnight last night, but was able to get all that we wanted (except Palo Tea... none available!):

FOOD-
Wed., April 14: Dinner at Palo (6:00 PM)
Fri., April 16: Exotic Rasul at the spa (2:00 PM)
Mon., April 19: Palo Brunch (11:30 AM)

EXCURSIONS:
Madeira: Views and Parks
Cadiz: A Taste of Cadiz and Jerez
Barcelona: Gaudi and Barcelona

I'm so excited! Being able to book all this makes it finally seem real!