*Sept 10th 2011 WB Transatlantic* - From Spain to Space Mountain - Part 5

[squitty]

Started working on t-shirts and magnets today. I leave in a month. So not ready.

Found this great pirate graphic:

I love that Lynne

Morning everyone.

Karen hopefully the maintenance will be your room assignments

 

[jinxleprechaun]

i hope they fill the ship with enough fuel, otherwise they'll be giving you a swimming float and telling you to kick if you're down in the bowels of the ship!

Yeah

I have images of a big drum one end of the corridor and everyone manning a big oar

 

[karentan]

row

row

row

row

stop skiving back there!

 

[karentan]

and DCL site is back up, still nothing

 

[karentan]

Found this great pirate graphic:

step away from the turkey leg you must!

 

[Pinky166]

Happy Sunday Cruisers.

Welcome back Mandy, glad you had a fun time.

The Pamplona thing reminded me of a funny story. It is kind of long..

What a funny story, poor Todd. I have this image of him walking like a zombie.

Did you buy the water and cava at La Boqueria or Carrefour? And is Carrefour on the Ramblas? Sounds like the place to go!

I'm looking forward to wandering through La Boqueria. I love markets like that. I must have an espresso con leche! Even a bad one will beat the swill that passes for coffee around here. And I dare anyone to try huevos del toro. (Go ahead, Google it. )

Ewwwww gross!

 

[liesbeth1012]

If it's any consolation the rain here in Ireland has rarely left us this Summer. I know it's what make's the land so green but it would be nice to remember what the Sun and heat feels like.

yeah it seems like we haven't had any summer here in essex yet either.....

well it can rain all it wants in september in ireland and essex, as long as it's dry over the atlantic

Here it is no summer too. RAIN, RAIN AND COLD!
I cann't wait to be on the cruise and hope it is much better weather then.
I am not intend to bring my winterclothes on board.

Well we already have out room no even if it IS on deck 1.

With my luck we are more likely to get a complimentary downgrade

Looking out at the marine life from under the water line???????????


Anyway, best wishes for those awaiting assignment and hopefully theres enough pixie dust to go around

It is silly. Now they have the OGT and VGT (the with restricty ones) back. Last week you couldn't book Oceanview on deck 1 anymore and now it is back. Just as other categories. What are the doing on DCL!

 

[MandyGirl]

With my luck we are more likely to get a complimentary downgrade

Curt actually WANTS and PREFERS an inside... wish we could 'downgrade' to a sideways on deck 5 or 6. Booked a gty 10C.

So sorry to hear of your loss. Our condolences to you and your family.

Same here as well, Liesbeth.

What are the doing on DCL!

They are playing a puppet game.... flip a switch, watch the DIS boards, and have a laugh!

 

[steamboat will]

Just went on to the Disney Cruise Line website and it showed that I now owe 4p on my balance. I know that several other cruisers have had this problem so called Disney Cruise line, to get it sorted out.

I was quite surprised to find out that due to Government Taxes the price of my cruise had been raised by this amount, And therefore I needed to pay it on my credit card!

REALLY 4p on my credit card?

Clearly Disney Cruise Line is experiencing tough times!

SW

 

[granmaz]

We suddenly found a $15(ish) refund from DCL on our Visa last week. Last time this happened it was to do with port fees being reduced, but I guess it could be the fuel surcharge or government taxes. I wish they would say what it is. Still, it is a few Cove Cafe coffees for us!!

 

[jinxleprechaun]

We suddenly found a $15(ish) refund from DCL on our Visa last week. Last time this happened it was to do with port fees being reduced, but I guess it could be the fuel surcharge or government taxes. I wish they would say what it is. Still, it is a few Cove Cafe coffees for us!!

mmmmm I like Cove Cafe and my DW absolutely adores it - especially when the pastries are free

 

[Dgentrysim]

The Pamplona thing reminded me of a funny story. It is kind of long..

When I was in law school I did a semester abroad at Oxford, taking classes, but mainly traveling and having fun. We had 3 day weekends and one weekend some of the students went down to Pamplona. One of the guys went down there on his own, not in a group (I don't remember his name, so I'll just call him Todd). Todd had a hearing problem, although not deaf, which made him kind of a "close talker." He was not very popular, I'm sorry to say, because the guys all thought he only did the "close talking" thing to hit on girls - and since he DID try and hit on the girls CONSTANTLY - they didn't like him too much either.

Sunday night comes, I'm sitting in the commons room, the lights are off and I'm watching TV. I hear someone arrive back at the dorm (turns out it is Todd) and he calls out to me from the foyer, asking if I can help him carry up his bag (this was a 5 or 6 story dorm with no elevator). Now Todd wasn't fat, but he was a big, husky guy so of course I think to myself, "Dude, why do you need me to help you with your luggage?" But not wanting to be rude, I didn't say anything but headed out to help him.

Todd was standing there with his arms and shoulders in a cast, his arms straight out in front of him propped up by rods embedded in the casts. His luggage was by his side (apparently a cab driver had dropped him off), and his jacket and shirt were just kind of haphazardly buttoned around his neck, with his chest and stomach exposed. He did, thankfully, have pants on.

Todd proceeds to tell me that he had been in Pamplona and there was some square with a tall statue (he said about 20 feet tall) and a huge crowd around it. Everyone, including Todd, was drunk, and people would climb up to the tower and jump into the crowd and "crowd surf."

So Todd decides that looks like fun and he is going to try it. Todd didn't speak any language other than English, and his hearing wasn't too good, and he had no friends in the crowd, and he weighed about (I'm guessing) 180-200lbs. I don't know if people warned him not to jump and he didn't hear, or didn't understand the language, or was too drunk to notice, but when he jumped, the crowd scattered and Todd splattered.

Todd was taken to a hospital where there was some major communication problems (and I get the sense from Todd that he wanted to stay at the hospital but they hustled him out fairly quickly) and somehow they patched his two broken arms and stuck him on a train back towards England. I know that this trip took the better part of the day and I'm still not sure how he managed it by himself or what strangers helped him along the way, but here he was back at Oxford.

By this time we're in his dorm room, I've hauled up his suitcase. He asks me if I can get him a glass of water. He mentions he needs to use the restroom. Then, can I unbutton his jacket? Then his shirt. At this point, I'm afraid what he is going to ask me to do next so I tell him I'm going to go get the class chaperone, a professor whose room was also in the dorm.

Up until this point, this professor was having the time of his life on a university-funded-all-expenses-paid vacation. He had brought his wife along and they were hanging out, sightseeing. He occasionally spoke at one of the classes (but didn't actually teach any). I get him, tell him and his wife what had happened, and head back downstairs.

About an hour later the professor comes down, VERY flustered and upset. Todd has the insurance we all had to purchase for medical emergencies that provides for transport back to the states, and the professor has called and arranged for someone to come tomorrow and escort him home. "He CANNOT stay here. He can't do anything for himself. I mean ANYTHING, and I am not going to..." his voice tapers off, very upset, shaking his head. "I can't do that again..." He didn't tell me WHAT and I didn't ask.

The next morning my roommate and I looked out our dorm window and there was Todd sitting in the courtyard. His belongings were all packed and he was waiting to be picked up. Todd was a smoker, and someone had taken a hanger and straightened it and put a loop in one end. There was a cigarette in the loop and Todd held the hanger in his right hand, at the end of his outstretched, immobile right arm, and slowly moved his right hand back and forth so that the end of the hanger with the cigarette in it went back and forth to his lips. That was the last we saw of Todd...

How funny (not for Todd, of course!)! It's amazing some of the situations we come across in life. That's a good story!

 

[Dgentrysim]

Okay: When I left for vacation, we were still on thread four. Now we are almost 100 pages into thread five. I tried looking at DIS on my cell phone here and there when we had cell coverage, but must say I am very grateful for AuntLynne's recaps!!!!!!

Currency: I tried calling Curt to tell him about getting dineros ahead of time, but he says we'll wait.

Safety: So what about sticking money and credit cards in your bra? (Don't laugh...) I know I wear cargo pants a lot, especially for travel, but what about a neck wallet or using a sports bra? (I know... will look like I am doing inappropriate things getting money out, but heck, I'm still breastfeeding, so what's the difference....)

New Cruisers: WELCOME!!! We're Curt & Mandy traveling with our soon-to-be five year old and 15 month old. First Disney Cruise, first TransAtlantic, first cruise with the kiddos.... but other than that we have eight other 7-nighters under our belt on HAL, Celebrity, and NCL. Looking forward to meeting everyone and experiencing this cruise!!

Jacqueline: If you are still following the thread, I am so sorry you had to cancel. My heart goes out to you.

Trip: The low was in the 40s with a windchill of 36 at one point (Farenheit). Came home to Texas in a heat wave of 25+ days of 100+ degree weather that feels like a sauna. The Rocky Mountains were spectacular, as it was my first trip west of Denver. Fourteen nights, part of which was a church mission trip. The first six nights included Curt, the last eight were just me and the girls. Several days we were completely off the grid with no cell access and some days with no electricity. I did not touch a computer in 14+ days. It felt weird typing on the laptop when getting home!

Packing Cubes: I totally swear by them now. The last eight nights were three girls packed in two backpacks utilizing packing cubes. Did not do laundry those eight nights, and yes, we wore clean underwear everyday.

GtY Rooms: So glad y'all kept us updated. I didn't bother checking our reservation to see if they had been assigned. (Watch my cabin have already been assigned....)

Anyway, I'm super glad to be home, and thankful for the trip we just had. We chose to tent camp to save money... can't beat twenty bucks a night, although showers and electricity would have been nice. Now back to looking at my work schedule, getting my tutoring students ready for school (and me being gone!), and that thing called laundry....

Five weeks and a couple days until we begin this next venture!

So glad you are back and had a great time! You are one pioneer woman if you stayed several days in tents, no electricity, still breastfeeding, and you still had clean underwear! My hats off to your girl! Sure makes you appreciate modern day conveniences, doesn't it???!!!!

 

[GA-yaya]

With my luck we are more likely to get a complimentary downgrade

Looking out at the marine life from under the water line???????????

i hope they fill the ship with enough fuel, otherwise they'll be giving you a swimming float and telling you to kick if you're down in the bowels of the ship!

You two are sooo funny!

 

[liesbeth1012]

Just went on to the Disney Cruise Line website and it showed that I now owe 4p on my balance. I know that several other cruisers have had this problem so called Disney Cruise line, to get it sorted out.

I was quite surprised to find out that due to Government Taxes the price of my cruise had been raised by this amount, And therefore I needed to pay it on my credit card!

REALLY 4p on my credit card?

Clearly Disney Cruise Line is experiencing tough times!

SW

Send DCL a mail and the sorted out. I had 0,02 cent to pay, but the made it to zero.

We suddenly found a $15(ish) refund from DCL on our Visa last week. Last time this happened it was to do with port fees being reduced, but I guess it could be the fuel surcharge or government taxes. I wish they would say what it is. Still, it is a few Cove Cafe coffees for us!!

But if I get money from them, I will spend it also at Cove Cafe I think.
It is strange all of that

 

[Dgentrysim]

Wanted to share with everyone a great place to buy wine and water and even health and beauty aids in Barcelona if it hasn't been mentioned before. Last year we stayed at Silken Ramblas right around the corner from the Carrefour and the Bouqueria on les Ramblas. The water was ridiculously cheap! We bought a 6 pack of 1.5 liter bottles of water for 1.27 euros (that's 21 cents a bottle) It was really good too. Just be careful to get still water. They love fizzy water there. We also bought Cava Champagne which is a specialty in Barcelona. We bought 3 small bottles (about 3 glasses each) for 3 euros total. The Cava is delicous. It came in handy as one of the people at our table was celebrating his birthday and he was very touched when we wrapped it up and gave it to him. A few of the other bottles we used one night to share with the other 14 people at our table. Anyway, we frequented the Carrefour for the 3 days we were there before the cruise. I remember when they were in the states and loved the store. It was fun revisiting it, especially for their croissants! It's like 10 of them for a little over a euro. They had an extensive array of food and beverages. We loaded up on drinks and brought them on the cruise with us.

Thanks for the tip. We are staying off Les Ramblas behind Bouqueria so we will check Carrefour out. Is it on the upper half of Les Ramblas or lower?

 

[MandyGirl]

So glad you are back and had a great time! You are one pioneer woman if you stayed several days in tents, no electricity, still breastfeeding, and you still had clean underwear! My hats off to your girl! Sure makes you appreciate modern day conveniences, doesn't it???!!!!

LOL - Pioneer Woman. Thanks! Packing cubes are to be thanked for the clean clothes - we really utilized those well. And the breastfeeding... we are doing the World Health Organization's recommendation of two years. Of course, she is now eating other foods, but still gets milk supplemented as often as she likes (mainly morning/night, and on airplanes for ear pressure). I did it with my other daughter as well, who I had to make stop at age three. Neither child has ever been sick, and when we traveled to the Grenadines, our pharmacist reminded me of all the other medicinal uses of milk should we have pink eye, a cut, etc. Of course there are some in my family who think I should have stopped at six weeks.... but there is just too much research out there to support two years. But yes, it has felt WEIRD walking around the house. Even the YMCA we stayed at for our church mission trip had no TV, but DID have in-room toilet/shower!

Oh... and I *did* book the exotic rasul treatment (and nursery) for us. Glad I coerced Curt into it (after it was booked!). The tips shared here about what to do for it being too hot will be utilized since that is what bothered him last time. Needing some spa treatment!!

 

[IansGran]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who responded to my plea for HELP and try and get in 10 posts so I can PM (that is private message, not that time of the month?) champagne girls, etc.

 

[IansGran]

Is there a DIS group in the Orlando area?

 

[steamboat will]

Is there a DIS group in the Orlando area?

There are many meets of DIS fans in the orlando area, not necessarily folks from the area but often folks in the area on vacation. In December the DIS folks have hired the whole of the wizarding world of Harry Potter for a private after hours party, with around 750 DISers in attendance!

There are also Likely to be DIS meets organised by fans during special events like food and wine at EPCOT, or Halloween

Check the other DIS boards there's always lots going on

SW