*Sept 10th 2011 WB Transatlantic* From Spain to Space Mountain - Part 3

[poohluv2u]

Hahaha....it will be trolley dash carnage, all racing to the booze aisle

we'll be the ones in the candy aisle

 

[MandyGirl]

As far as the seating goes; don't sweat it. All airlines block of seats for both these types of situations, frequent flyers and people with disabilities. As long as you check in (do it online!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) a.s.a.p. you should be able to find you seats together.

Will try not to sweat it. Just sux we had our three seats booked together months in advance, and we are rebooked on same flight #, same aircraft model, just thirty minutes earlier and we are no longer seated together. Seriously... having an 11 month old sitting by itself? I breastfeed on ascent and descent to help her ears and sooth her, and she never has any issues. Would be kinda hard doing that not seated by each other. Four year old by herself? A little more understandable I guess. Birthdates are on the record. (And remember - they were going to charge $260 for baby to be a lapchild, so we just cashed in frequent flyer miles instead to get her a seat.)

Currently still 60 preferred seats for frequent flyers available to book in coach... two of those preferred seats are between me and four year old, but they can't use one of those. Nope. Baby is seated next to me now - I originally had only the email of two of us switched with baby still in original seat a few rows back, and learned on the phone the baby was now seated by me. But really... With 60 preferred seats still available, they can't book a a 4 year old child next to her mother because it is a "preferred" seat near the aft of the plane. Then there are an additional 20 non-preferred seats available to book, meaning 80 seats available still in coach. So instead of the airline accommodating the passengers now the way they say they will the morning of the flight, they will wait until it is packed, have to displace another passenger, and gate agents are rushing to push the flight on time. It just makes no sense to me when it could quickly and easily be taken care of now in advance instead of inconveniencing a passenger and a gate agent the morning of the flight.

We usually fly Southwest, so no reserved seating, and even with open seating, we always end up sitting together. Just weird you book on a carrier with assigned seats, they change the flight time, and they choose to separate such young children from a parent although so many seats are available right next to the parent.

That is complete garbage and I totally understand why you would be pissed. Just so I know not to book them in the future, what airline are you booked on?

American Airlines. I hate it that the front-line employees will have to deal with re-seating someone the morning of the flight when it could be done so easily right now. But we have to save those 60 preferred seats instead.

Aloha. Leaving for Oahu in the morning. My brother in law and his wife are on a 40 plus day cruise and we are house sitting for two glorious weeks I am enjoying the freedom retirement offers---spontaneous travel. All we are having to pay for is flight from CA and rental car, etc.

Sweet!! That will be fun house-sitting!!

 

[PFlamingo]

FYI - Don't get glued to the idea of liking your assigned seats on your airlines. Just received the auto email on our flight to New York that our flight changed, and seats were rebooked. Of course me, my (currrent) 4 year old and (current) 11 month old are not sitting together now with this new flight (whereas we were booked all three together previously since we booked 330 days in advance - as soon as the schedule opened). When calling the airline, due to blocked seats (referred to as "airport controlled".... aka frequent flyer seats...) the reservation agent could do absolutely nothing to re-seat us together. We have to ask at the airport when checking in, and hopefully someone will be coerced to trade seats.

Seriously?? I've worked for an airline before and have flown standby hundreds of times, but if I had wanted us to fly where we weren't seated together, I would have done standby for this trip (taking whatever seats were available) instead of booking actual tickets almost a year in advance!

Okay. Vent over. At least we will be arriving in New York earlier!

That is so very wrong!! They have to fix that for you. I think I'd be calling again, and when the agent said there's nothing he/she can do at this time, I'd say, "then please give me to some one who does have the authority to fix this." Very sweetly, of course. Let's face it, when you call customer service anywhere, you're talking to the people at the bottom of the food chain, who really can't do anything that isn't in the "script." Keep asking for the next person up the chain til you get to someone who can do something. You're not asking for something you're not entitled to, after all. If you have to get nasty, you've got some great ammunition - "So if my 4 year old and 11 month old daughters can't sit with me, you will be offering me some guarantee that they won't be seated next to a sex offender, correct?" Said in the sweetest possible voice of course. They'll quickly decide it's easier to give you seats together than mess with you.

Okay, empathy vent over now.

we'll be the ones in the candy aisle

Oh, I'll be stopping there, too, after the booze aisle! Must have Fruit Pastilles - best "gummy" candies anywhere, and I can't get them here. Will probably stock up on some Cadbury's, too.

 

[JessicasMom]

Hi Everyone!! My DH and I were on the WBTA last year. We hoped to do it again in 2012, but it's not happening. Sooooo....we just booked for this year!! I'm so excited! We loved it last year. From day one I felt like I was missing something. That everyone knew something I didn't know. We walked around the halls each night and looked at doors and kept seeing thie "fish extender" phrase and "DIS". Once we figured it out I got home and found you! Now I know what I didn't know last year. I'm joining the FE groups, I'm doing the candy swap, I'm decorating our door. Thank you so much for all you're doing to make this cruise special. We're bringing my parents for a trip of a lifetime. They didn't get to go last time. Hope to see you all in September!!

DH and I were on last year's EB and (happily) participated in the FE, SM and door decorating....made the trip so much more fun!

Just realized that we're in the same boat, so to speak! We fly out on the 7th too! Though for us it's a red eye flight, so don't get there until the 8th. Joining the happy dance brigade!

We're in that boat dancing right along with you!

silly job, sometimes I have to work. SO TRUE!

A few questions for "experienced" TA cruisers:

Due to luggage restrictions, I didn't plan to bring pirate dress. The pictures look like almost everyone got pirated up. Will we feel strange if we just wear pirate tees? No, not at all. Most people don't really dress up, but it's great seeing the ones that do.

I also don't plan on different dresses for every night. How did you ladies manage to bring such amazing wardrobes with you? Mix/Match, pack for one week then do laundry, and wear the same dressy/formal outfit. You actually need far fewer clothes than you think (esp. on Orient Beach, but that's not really what I mean !)

Does anyone remember if there was some kind of price break for internet usage on the cruise? Was it a set fee for unlimited usage? I'm afraid that Kevin will go into serious withdrawal if he doesn't have internet! We checked our email regularly but were very frustrated by the (lack of) connection speed and frequent service drops. Won't bother this year, but DD and DM will be with us, so I won't worry about being connected ICOE.

I have not seen so many Karens gathered in one place since I was in grade school either.

It appears there are more than a couple of "Pats" here as well. My DM, who just booked, is also Pat. Yikes!

FYI - Don't get glued to the idea of liking your assigned seats on your airlines. Just received the auto email on our flight to New York that our flight changed, and seats were rebooked. Of course me, my (currrent) 4 year old and (current) 11 month old are not sitting together now with this new flight (whereas we were booked all three together previously since we booked 330 days in advance - as soon as the schedule opened). When calling the airline, due to blocked seats (referred to as "airport controlled".... aka frequent flyer seats...) the reservation agent could do absolutely nothing to re-seat us together. We have to ask at the airport when checking in, and hopefully someone will be coerced to trade seats.

Rant away! Flying is such a pain anymore. On our return flight from Austin a couple of weeks ago, I discovered (when checking in online the night before) that United had canceled our seat assignments from AUS to ORD when they changed the flight no., and the only seats avail. were upgrades at extra cost (but we still had seats from ORD to home). I called and was told that seats can only be assigned at the gate but that we would definitely have seats...duh. Upon arrival at the airport, I immed. asked and was again told to wait until at the gate. I really, really hate the idea of not sitting next to my husband (I'm Pooh-sized and do not want to infringe on anyone else's comfort ), but the gate staff already had boarding passes for us, with free upgrade (and no luggage fee because we were in the better seats!) With that resolved, we almost didn't get to fly the second leg because there was no flight attendant! One had to be called in, causing a two hr. delay. Another flight leaving the same gate area was equally delayed for lack of a pilot!

we'll be the ones in the candy aisle

We'll be there with you ; Love any unusual candies (like unusual Cadbury bars we're just beginning to get in the US)....and I don't diet on vacation ! Of course, we'll pretend to be interested in the produce, as well....


Well, I was able to book my DM and DNiece in an OGT and arrange the same flight we've had booked for months. WHEW!!! Went through cheapoair.com and saved a bundle, although they're paying slightly more than we did. Both legs of our flight are BA; however, the first leg (EWR to LHR) is code-shared by Iberia...thank goodness, or their flight would have been over $1600 ea!!! (instead of less than $600). My mom is 71, niece is 26 and special needs, and this will be their second cruise (first was in Jan of this year). They are soooo excited , esp. now that I've explained the disboards and all the onboard activities. My mother THE LUSH is ready to join in on any crawl or tasting offered .....DH and DN will have to hang out while DD and I keep an eye on her! Not really...one or two drinks and she's konked, but she does like to collect the souvenir glasses (has a nice cordial set from RCI). But she's game for anything and has a great sense of humor .

I booked the cruise through our online TA and requested linked dining, so I hope it all works out. Looks like main dining is still available.

I'll be PM'ing to sign the ladies up for things.

I'm feeling colorful today (sorry if it's hard to read)!

 

[Tod&Copper]

Sounds fab, i'd love to go to Sorrento & the Amalfi coast. Take lots of pics please!!!

I will do

A few questions for "experienced" TA cruisers:

Due to luggage restrictions, I didn't plan to bring pirate dress. The pictures look like almost everyone got pirated up. Will we feel strange if we just wear pirate tees?

I also don't plan on different dresses for every night. How did you ladies manage to bring such amazing wardrobes with you?

Does anyone remember if there was some kind of price break for internet usage on the cruise? Was it a set fee for unlimited usage? I'm afraid that Kevin will go into serious withdrawal if he doesn't have internet!

It was definitely mixed, as Marilyn said, 50/50 on dressing up, there were some amazing outfits we just don't have the room in our luggage, but wore the bandanas the servers put on our heads at the table, so you are still "participating"

The internet was so slow it was costing a fortune, I gave up trying to email home. One email cost me about $12

I am really sad and make up a spreadsheet for my clothes, shoes and jewellery and try to work out before I go what I can mix and match and dress up and down. It really works and helps with the packing and does make it look like potentially you have a different outfit on every night

Sounds like a normal evening our for me

SW

Warren we need a photo of you in one of the boas and tiaras

Can you imagine a line of us waiting at the door for the place to open then rushing in an grabbing stuff off the shelves, it'll be just like Supermarket Sweep!!!!

SW

Ok who's going to be Dale

OK guys there is interest in the Crawl around the Magic! Chris (Chris&Jeremy) and I will be leading this crawl and we will provide some more info shortly.

I will be working on the date and signups and Chris will be working on the Tshirt design and we will both be working on the route of the crawl and perhaps a theme for each stop.

If you are intersted in joining, please just send me a PM. There is no cost associated with the crawl other then your drinks that we will each pay for on our own.

I know some of you say that you don't drink or don't think that you can keep up. That's cool! In my mind the crawl is more about us all being convivial (I don't care what Bruce says its a real word and has a real meaning) and getting to know each other better. However, this does not mean that a few of us may be crawling at the end.


Look forward to seeing all of you.

That's sounds great will PM you

Well make sure you pack them, have you got a pink tu-tu aswell? You could be the Champagne Girls mascot.

Hahaha....it will be trolley dash carnage, all racing to the booze aisle.

Michelle, are you volunteering Neil for the job?

We can buy him a bottle of the most orangey fake tan we can find.

I thought little Tod was the Champagne Girls mascot, he looked gorgeous in that tiara

Gosh that booze aisle is going to be manic, has anyone warned Morrisons in advance

 

[squitty]

Michelle, are you volunteering Neil for the job?

We can buy him a bottle of the most orangey fake tan we can find.

I was just going to say he hasn't been tangoed

sue and michelle - mickey tshirts are in the mail

Many thanks Karen

Thank you all for the warm welcome wishes! We are Tom and Kathy from Connecticut (USA). This will be our "gold" cruise and second TA. We're really excited but hate to wish the summer away.

I just have one request...leave all the chocolate chip cookies for me!! They're so yummy!!

Hi againg Tom and Kathy....we're the same, wishing the days away till we board.

Aloha. Leaving for Oahu in the morning. My brother in law and his wife are on a 40 plus day cruise and we are house sitting for two glorious weeks I am enjoying the freedom retirement offers---spontaneous travel. All we are having to pay for is flight from CA and rental car, etc.

Basically DH and I will be non tourists and checking out island life--aka shopping at Costco, cooking our own meals which isn't too hard especially when dieting. Yes ladies......it's June 1st and I have joined the diet patrol.

I'm bringing my iPad and DH his laptop so we will be in touch. I checked the signs-ups last night and still lots of slots for Palo dinners and brunches. It did say $20 per person so that's another increase since we last cruised.

Sounds lovely - hope you have a great time.

we'll be the ones in the candy aisle

We'll probably be in there too...got to have something to soak the alcohol up with

 

[granmaz]

Aloha. Leaving for Oahu in the morning. My brother in law and his wife are on a 40 plus day cruise and we are house sitting for two glorious weeks I am enjoying the freedom retirement offers---spontaneous travel. All we are having to pay for is flight from CA and rental car, etc.

Basically DH and I will be non tourists and checking out island life--aka shopping at Costco, cooking our own meals which isn't too hard especially when dieting. Yes ladies......it's June 1st and I have joined the diet patrol.

I'm bringing my iPad and DH his laptop so we will be in touch. I checked the signs-ups last night and still lots of slots for Palo dinners and brunches. It did say $20 per person so that's another increase since we last cruised.

Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[Pinky166]

we'll be the ones in the candy aisle

You will find Lee in the candy aisle, he will have a full trolley to last him 2 weeks!

Oh, I'll be stopping there, too, after the booze aisle! Must have Fruit Pastilles - best "gummy" candies anywhere, and I can't get them here. Will probably stock up on some Cadbury's, too.

You only have to ask Pat. I am more than happy to buy you some supplies & mail them to you.....anytime, before or after the cruise.

I thought little Tod was the Champagne Girls mascot, he looked gorgeous in that tiara

Gosh that booze aisle is going to be manic, has anyone warned Morrisons in
advance

Awwww yeah, I forgot about that picture of Tod. They can both be mascots.

We will be partying on Deck 6 & the Morrisons booze aisle.


Does anyone recall what time Morrisons opens on that bank holiday? I have visions of a large queue outside.

I was just going to say he hasn't been tangoed

So is he willing?

 

[squitty]

Does anyone recall what time Morrisons opens on that bank holiday? I have visions of a large queue outside.


So is he willing?

I don't know about the opening times Claire.

I don't think he is willing by what he's just said

 

[squitty]

Just to say our T'Shirts came this morning.. They are great, I see what you mean now Mandy about the line across the top of the pirate background. Still they have come out good!

 

[liesbeth1012]

Can anyone tell me what Morrisons is?

 

[susie2]

Can anyone tell me what Morrisons is?

hi morrisons is a supermarket, it sells food and booze, this is where we do our weekly shop

 

[Dgentrysim]

Aloha. Leaving for Oahu in the morning. My brother in law and his wife are on a 40 plus day cruise and we are house sitting for two glorious weeks I am enjoying the freedom retirement offers---spontaneous travel. All we are having to pay for is flight from CA and rental car, etc.

Basically DH and I will be non tourists and checking out island life--aka shopping at Costco, cooking our own meals which isn't too hard especially when dieting. Yes ladies......it's June 1st and I have joined the diet patrol.

I'm bringing my iPad and DH his laptop so we will be in touch. I checked the signs-ups last night and still lots of slots for Palo dinners and brunches. It did say $20 per person so that's another increase since we last cruised.

Have a wonderful time in Hawaii!!!! It's a tough job...but someone has to do it, right????!!!! Aloha!

 

[karentan]

Have a great time in Hawaii - it's one place I'd love to go someday

 

[PFlamingo]

You only have to ask Pat. I am more than happy to buy you some supplies & mail them to you.....anytime, before or after the cruise.

Aaaawww, you're so nice to offer! I'll wait til the cruise - one more thing to look forward to, then make a list for after. Do they have bulk shipping in the UK?

How is Stamy, doing - any news yet? I'm waiting to hear about George's blood work. As Monday was a holiday here, it's taking a little longer. He's always been fine with that (other than during his bouts of pancreatitis), but at his age they can develop diabetes very quickly. He seems to be doing well with the pain pills "Doc" prescribed for him. At $2.50 a pill (1 per day - do the math), he should be able to do back flips!

Okay, enough procrastinating. Time to get to work!

 

[Chris&Jeremy]

American Airlines. I hate it that the front-line employees will have to deal with re-seating someone the morning of the flight when it could be done so easily right now. But we have to save those 60 preferred seats instead.

Mandy, I don't know if you use Twitter, but I have seen people have great success in getting issues like this resolved by sending them a tweet to their customer service people:

http://twitter.com/#!/AmericanAir

Of course, anything that goes out on Twitter that could be construed negatively (i.e. their customer service people splitting up a family with small children) will be dealt with right away to quell any bad publicity or re-tweeting about how idiotic their decision is.

It's worth a shot - and I believe they take care of things very quickly as they have a dedicated social media team that monitors these things.

- Chris

 

[sue l]

Looks like my ticker is working now. Thank you Grumpy 1234. It's amazing what a little can do. Not to mention someone who actually knows how to work a computer, unlike myself. Your awesome.

 

[MandyGirl]

Mandy, I don't know if you use Twitter, but I have seen people have great success in getting issues like this resolved by sending them a tweet to their customer service people:

http://twitter.com/#!/AmericanAir

Of course, anything that goes out on Twitter that could be construed negatively (i.e. their customer service people splitting up a family with small children) will be dealt with right away to quell any bad publicity or re-tweeting about how idiotic their decision is.

It's worth a shot - and I believe they take care of things very quickly as they have a dedicated social media team that monitors these things.

- Chris

Thanks, Chris! I think I am going to send a letter. Choosing to resolve issues such as this at 90+ days prior to travel helps the gate agents, creating a better chance of on-time performance and customer satisfaction, two of the ratings looked at closely in the industry. That way I have an issue to point out, a suggestion of a resolution, and the resolution would possibly help two of their rating factors. Plus, since we were booked three together, and AA changed the flight seating, then AA could over-ride the system to keep the three of us together, especially since the (preferred) seat is available next to me, we are not in the first 25 rows, and this was their change (not mine).

Now if my child was older, understandable... but very surprising with a younger child. She turns five the day prior to travel, which moves her up in the "unaccompanied minor" category. Their website states they must travel with someone, but nothing says they must be seated in the vicinity of each other.
"Children 5 through 7 years of age must travel with another passenger at least 16 years of age or they will be considered Unaccompanied Minors."

I'm just so used to Southwest, family boarding after A group, it is never an issue because we always end up together. It's been a couple years since we flew AA, and this will be my first with both the girls. Hope our JFK-BCN seats don't get changed as well!

 

[sue l]

love it! i'm not used to halves either. might have to go for full ones instead



sue, send me a PM with what ticker design you want, what slider, what text and what date and i'll email you the link you need to copy and paste into your signature



is anyone going to have the perma orange tan a-la dale winton?!



count me in for the crawlers!



if you go onto DCL website, click on cruises and destinations at the top, on the drop down menu click on port adventures. you can then click on the port and it'll tell you the excursions available

Thanks Karen, Grumpy 1234 did it for me. You are all so nice. I can't wait to meet all of you.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Aloha. Leaving for Oahu in the morning. My brother in law and his wife are on a 40 plus day cruise and we are house sitting for two glorious weeks I am enjoying the freedom retirement offers---spontaneous travel. All we are having to pay for is flight from CA and rental car, etc.

Basically DH and I will be non tourists and checking out island life--aka shopping at Costco, cooking our own meals which isn't too hard especially when dieting. Yes ladies......it's June 1st and I have joined the diet patrol.

That sounds just heavenly Have a wonderful time in Hawaii!

That is so very wrong!! They have to fix that for you. I think I'd be calling again, and when the agent said there's nothing he/she can do at this time, I'd say, "then please give me to some one who does have the authority to fix this." Very sweetly, of course. Let's face it, when you call customer service anywhere, you're talking to the people at the bottom of the food chain, who really can't do anything that isn't in the "script." Keep asking for the next person up the chain til you get to someone who can do something. You're not asking for something you're not entitled to, after all. If you have to get nasty, you've got some great ammunition - "So if my 4 year old and 11 month old daughters can't sit with me, you will be offering me some guarantee that they won't be seated next to a sex offender, correct?" Said in the sweetest possible voice of course. They'll quickly decide it's easier to give you seats together than mess with you.

Okay, empathy vent over now.

Note to self: Do NOT cross PFlamingo!! LOL!

Currently still 60 preferred seats for frequent flyers available to book in coach... two of those preferred seats are between me and four year old, but they can't use one of those. Nope. Baby is seated next to me now - I originally had only the email of two of us switched with baby still in original seat a few rows back, and learned on the phone the baby was now seated by me. But really... With 60 preferred seats still available, they can't book a a 4 year old child next to her mother because it is a "preferred" seat near the aft of the plane. Then there are an additional 20 non-preferred seats available to book, meaning 80 seats available still in coach. So instead of the airline accommodating the passengers now the way they say they will the morning of the flight, they will wait until it is packed, have to displace another passenger, and gate agents are rushing to push the flight on time. It just makes no sense to me when it could quickly and easily be taken care of now in advance instead of inconveniencing a passenger and a gate agent the morning of the flight.

Yeah I still think this is just crazy. At least you have one of the seats resolved, I'm sure that any reasonable person would switch seats so your 4 year old can sit with you as well.