Sept 18 2010 WB TransAtlantic Pirates/Capt Jacks Re-Repoing Repossession Cruise Pt.5

[gismo1554]

Well, planning for this trip is certainly challenging if nothing else! We now have had our second cancelled flights from UK to Barcelona. BMi Baby pulled out of the Birmingham to Barcelona route, so we had to rebook and now Spanair have pulled before they even started. Without telling me or even refunding. Am at work all week till Friday so will have to wait tos ort it
We now have a big inconvenience as looks like we have to fly from further afield...with all the issues of a one way travel etc. ..hey ho!

That coach idea is looking very attractive!.....will you do door to door pick up?

Lyn

Oh my God Lyn! Thats awful luck!

I still like the coach idea lol.

 

[gismo1554]

I'm sure it was easy to overlook as you probably are permanently signed it, you can choose that as an option when you create an account.

You one of the special ones! They are rare and in danger of extinction!

Oh, That sound very stressful! We are flying our last leg from Heathrow to Barcelona with BA, I'm keeping my fingers crossed they don't strike! And we all have to keep that nasty ash cloud in mind too.........The coach is looking better and better, well for you.....I don't think it will pick up from Australia!

Us too! Dan was really un-helpful the other day as I said about I was worried with the flights and the strikes and he said "why we're not flying BA!" honestly you would think I never tell him anything! I've even shown him our Etickets!

 

[gismo1554]

OK knew I shouldn't have looked! Our flight (BA0488) was one of the cancelled ones in this lot of strikes! God I hope they sort all this out by September!

 

[LittleDisneyLovers]

You have a very good point about the men lol!

I have to admit last night I finally convinced Dan to look at the old Passporter book I had. For some unknown reason he was under the impression you paid $15 for Palo plus the price of the food! Spent about an hour explaining it to him and now my head hurts. He now isn't sure about doing Palo or not! Men!

See...just don't tell him until 30 minutes before your ready to go! That's my plan.

OK knew I shouldn't have looked! Our flight (BA0488) was one of the cancelled ones in this lot of strikes! God I hope they sort all this out by September!

I'm not even going to look. We are BA0484.

 

[UKANGEL]

Well, planning for this trip is certainly challenging if nothing else! We now have had our second cancelled flights from UK to Barcelona. BMi Baby pulled out of the Birmingham to Barcelona route, so we had to rebook and now Spanair have pulled before they even started. Without telling me or even refunding. Am at work all week till Friday so will have to wait tos ort it
We now have a big inconvenience as looks like we have to fly from further afield...with all the issues of a one way travel etc. ..hey ho!

That coach idea is looking very attractive!.....will you do door to door pick up?

Lyn

Oh, That sound very stressful! We are flying our last leg from Heathrow to Barcelona with BA, I'm keeping my fingers crossed they don't strike! And we all have to keep that nasty ash cloud in mind too.........The coach is looking better and better, well for you.....I don't think it will pick up from Australia!

Oh my God Lyn! Thats awful luck!

I still like the coach idea lol.

Coach it is then!!! (may take a little longer to Australia)

I'm not even going to look. We are BA0484.

Too scared to look too....

 

[dolphingirl47]

Dolphingirl47 - why don't you like the split bathrooms? This is my first time in a non-split and I am having anxiety.

I get very claustrophobic in the split bathroom. Even though the single bathroom is smaller than the two halfs of the split bathroom put together, it feels more spacious.

We could sign up on the first day - I had a pedicure on day one and that is when I found out about it (reading the "specials" sheet they have on day one) and I booked it that day - we added the 2nd one after the first one - once we figured it all out

I definitely have to look out for this.

OK, So we booked a Cat 10, just to have the split bathroom (there are 4 of us), So what don't you like? We thought it would be easier? Please tell!

I think with 4 of you, it will be easier with the split bathroom. There is just the two of us and we cope just fine with the single bathroom. I explained above what the issue is. It is just me being silly, but I was just terrified of the split bathroom on our second cruise.

Good Day everyone

I can't believe that its only 17 weeks away.

For those of you who are "dieting", I just finished "Women, Food and God" by Geneen Roth. It was on Oprah last week. The book basically came down to be the you, you want to be and let the past be the past. DON'T DIET! since we all know that just leads us to failure. The guidelines were to eat when hungry, stop when you are full and eat with out distractions (no tv, radio, reading during eating). You can eat whatever you want as long as you follow the guidelines. It seems to simple to work. But I thought I would give it a ago. I'll let you all know how its working for me.

If you "diet" you have already lost. I am the queen of failed diets and in the end I just gave up. I always said I would do something about my weight if it started to affect my health. Well, this happened late last year. I joined a gym and started to eat healthily. I have worked out how I can make healthy versions of my favourite dishes. So I am not really missing anything and therefore this is sustainable pretty much indefinitely. I had amazing results with this. I also on purpose cook far more than we need for a meal and the rest is put in Tupperware boxes and in the freezer. Every morning I take one out of the freezer and by the time I have my meal break at work, it is defrosted. I used to live on ready meals at work and this is so much tastier and also better for me.

I saw the different posts for Formal and Semi-formal nights and decided to call Disney Cruise Line myself. I just got off the phone with Candy at DCL reservations and she advised that formal nights are night 2 (Sept 19) and 7 (Sept 24). Semi-formal will be night 13 (Sept 30) and Pirate night is night 11 (Sept 28). She said there is a theme night on night 8 (Sept 25) for Villains. She told me that there is a Villains Ball in the Atrium Lobby that night, then she put me on hold and said she talked to a manager who said the information is not clear as to Villains attire at dinner and that info would be updated next week. Candy did not have a reason why there would be conflicting information on Formal nights, as it is no secret and all agents have access to the information in their computer. The above information matches what the little birdie said. I hope this helps. If anyone else is still wondering, I would suggest you call for yourself, as this doesn't seem to be a secret.

Thanks for checking this for us. We had the Villains Ball and the Villains Menu on the Med cruise. The suggested dress for dinner that night was just Cruise Casual, but they did an activity twice that day where you could make your own mask and then they had a kind of fashion show in the atrium after dinner. Calling it a ball was somewhat misleading.

Just in case you didn't see on the main board:

Just wanted to pass along there's an iPod phone/touch app called Hidden Mickey's. You put in your DCL ships name and it tells you where you can find hidden Mickey's on each deck.

Thanks. I have to check this out.

I've wondered which is the suggested "right" choice about carrying your real passport vs. a photocopy as well. No big surprise that there are opinions on both sides as we justify it different ways. For instance, my initial thoughts are to not loose the real thing, which means it's kept in the safe.

I wonder if there's a way to contact an Embassy to see what they recommend for cruisers. If not that, there must be a government advisory of some form out there. Any idea???

We do not carry our passports unless we have to. I got chatting to a couple on our last cruise who had done the EBTA and first Med cruise back to back. They had gotten of the ship on our embarkation day to see some more of Barcelona and had taken their passports ashore. Let's just say, when I met them, they no longer had passports. They were pickpocketed and had their wallet, a camera and their passports taken.

Unfortunately my wife and I will have to cancel this cruise due to her Mom becoming sick and not able to watch our children while we cruise. We were so looking forward to this, but her Mom's health is far more important. Not really sure how this works but I will call DVC and see how the points get refunded. Hope you all have the best cruise ever!! I will pm Eric with our cancellation so no lanyard needed.


HAVE FUN!!!

I am sorry that you can't join us and hope that your Mother in Law feels better soon.

I thought I read here that English is widely spoken and that we will be fine not trying to learn the local languages. Do I need to get Dennis going on learning Catalan, Spanish and Portugese??

Gibraltar should be just fine as far as English is concerned. I don't know what the situation is in Madeira. In Barcelona, we had big problems finding anybody who spoke English. The staff at our hotel spoke English and the lady at the tourist information office at the train station did. At the ticket office in the station, in shops and in the restaurant we ate at nobody spoke English. We coped alright with a lot of goodwill on both sides, a lot of pointing and waving and a good deal of persistance, but this was the only place we visited where we had any problems at all communicating.

I am rapidly getting towards being ready for the cruise. My target date for being completely done is mid July, but it might happen before them. With all my previous cruises I had a last minute panic, but this is not going to happen this time.

I have ordered all the t shirts that I am having printed for the cruise. I have ordered the items for the Fish Extender that I had personalized for the cruise and 3 out of 5 have been delivered. Two of the t-shirts should hopefully arrive today. I have ordered the supplies for the Fish Extender gifts that I make myself and I should be able to get started with this by the weekend. I can't wait as I am really excited about the projects. I have all of my semi-formal dresses and I am just waiting for my formal dress. Most of my magnets are done.

I have to order embroidered pillow cases to have signed by the characters. I have to get some Pashminas to go with the semi-formal dresses. I have to set up a video appointment to get my custom jewellery for formal night sorted out. I need to get some new luggage and I have to finish off the last of the magnets. So considering that I have 3.5 months left, that should be doable. Can anybody tell that I am excited?

Corinna

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Wow! Gone for a day & come back to 12 new pages Spent the day with Hoagie Pie and GD at the Wild Animal Park. We had a great time. Since it was a hot day we enjoyed getting drenched on the Kali River Rapids. GD went on Expedition Everest twice - her first time by herself. My clothes were still wet when we got home.

Hope everyone has a good week.

You lucky things.

Well, planning for this trip is certainly challenging if nothing else! We now have had our second cancelled flights from UK to Barcelona. BMi Baby pulled out of the Birmingham to Barcelona route, so we had to rebook and now Spanair have pulled before they even started. Without telling me or even refunding. Am at work all week till Friday so will have to wait tos ort it
We now have a big inconvenience as looks like we have to fly from further afield...with all the issues of a one way travel etc. ..hey ho!

That coach idea is looking very attractive!.....will you do door to door pick up?

Lyn

Thats so annoying, sounds a bit like my flight hassles.good luck.

OK knew I shouldn't have looked! Our flight (BA0488) was one of the cancelled ones in this lot of strikes! God I hope they sort all this out by September!

Sarah, I believe BA will be better or bust by september, its pathetic.

 

[Steffy]

I glad that you are feeling better.

It been one month since I got hit by the elevator doors and I'm still in pain, under weight restrictions, activity restrictions and highly medicated. Thank god for insurance. One pill I'm on cost $4.75 per pill and I take it twice a day. I have to go to physical therapy 3 time a week and the doctor once a week. They are not sure what wrong with my left arm yet. I have to go to the doctor again on Wednesday.

Only 17 weeks till cruise and I'm PIF

Feel better nacho! to the pif club.

Unfortunately my wife and I will have to cancel this cruise due to her Mom becoming sick and not able to watch our children while we cruise. We were so looking forward to this, but her Mom's health is far more important. Not really sure how this works but I will call DVC and see how the points get refunded. Hope you all have the best cruise ever!! I will pm Eric with our cancellation so no lanyard needed.


HAVE FUN!!!

I'm so sorry. I hope your MIL gets better very soon.

Wow! Gone for a day & come back to 12 new pages Spent the day with Hoagie Pie and GD at the Wild Animal Park. We had a great time. Since it was a hot day we enjoyed getting drenched on the Kali River Rapids. GD went on Expedition Everest twice - her first time by herself. My clothes were still wet when we got home.

Hope everyone has a good week.

How fun!

Well, planning for this trip is certainly challenging if nothing else! We now have had our second cancelled flights from UK to Barcelona. BMi Baby pulled out of the Birmingham to Barcelona route, so we had to rebook and now Spanair have pulled before they even started. Without telling me or even refunding. Am at work all week till Friday so will have to wait tos ort it
We now have a big inconvenience as looks like we have to fly from further afield...with all the issues of a one way travel etc. ..hey ho!

That coach idea is looking very attractive!.....will you do door to door pick up?

Lyn

That is just awful! I sure hope you can get this fixed pronto!

 

[pilk]

Don't worry, I'm only a little offended! Just kidding. My wife and I have been planning together. We're both super excited and can't wait...
Alex

I am more than a little offended I think, I just have to wait for Candida to tell me if I am or not

Well, planning for this trip is certainly challenging if nothing else! We now have had our second cancelled flights from UK to Barcelona. BMi Baby pulled out of the Birmingham to Barcelona route, so we had to rebook and now Spanair have pulled before they even started. Without telling me or even refunding. Am at work all week till Friday so will have to wait tos ort it
We now have a big inconvenience as looks like we have to fly from further afield...with all the issues of a one way travel etc. ..hey ho!

That coach idea is looking very attractive!.....will you do door to door pick up?

Lyn

So, I wasn't just missing it when I wen to the Spanair site Don't worry, the four of us will start our cruise early. I'll bring the "Hike" vessel over so we can sail around the horn to Barcelona. I am sure we can tie it off behind the Magic coming back.

I am off until Friday, I'll see what I can find. Maybe we can get a large luggage allowance flight

Jon

 

[UKANGEL]

I am rapidly getting towards being ready for the cruise. My target date for being completely done is mid July, but it might happen before them. With all my previous cruises I had a last minute panic, but this is not going to happen this time.

I have ordered all the t shirts that I am having printed for the cruise. I have ordered the items for the Fish Extender that I had personalized for the cruise and 3 out of 5 have been delivered. Two of the t-shirts should hopefully arrive today. I have ordered the supplies for the Fish Extender gifts that I make myself and I should be able to get started with this by the weekend. I can't wait as I am really excited about the projects. I have all of my semi-formal dresses and I am just waiting for my formal dress. Most of my magnets are done.

I have to order embroidered pillow cases to have signed by the characters. I have to get some Pashminas to go with the semi-formal dresses. I have to set up a video appointment to get my custom jewellery for formal night sorted out. I need to get some new luggage and I have to finish off the last of the magnets. So considering that I have 3.5 months left, that should be doable. Can anybody tell that I am excited?

Corinna

You're so organised! I've done nothing yet.....really must get started soon!

Sarah, I believe BA will be better or bust by september, its pathetic.

Not bust, please!!!!

 

[gismo1554]

You lucky things.

Thats so annoying, sounds a bit like my flight hassles.good luck.

Sarah, I believe BA will be better or bust by september, its pathetic.

I'm with the other Lyn lets hope for better please! Bust is not an option! Im stressed enough!

 

[TChrist05]

Fellow TA cruisers....I only wish we had some more information from Disney. I know that it is standard not to get flight info or GTY room assignment this early....but I check every single day.....sometimes twice....OK....sometimes 3 times....I myself is a little apprehensive since this will be the first time I will be flying for almost 9 hours....I am much better with the 2 plus hour flights from JFK to MCO.....anyway.....we are looking at the excursions and will need help when it comes to the money over there....my DW is very excited...we booked this over 2 years ago and she cannot wait....me.....excited but not looking forward to the transportation stuff....when I get on the Magic I will be very relieved and confortable since it will be like we are home. Looking forward to relaxing for 2 fabulous weeks and meeting a lot of new people.
Tom & Marilou

 

[Hoagie Pie]

Hey - lots to read from one day off!! That won't happen again.

First, Dave, sorry to hear that you have to cancel the cruise, but hope your MIL is doing well.

UKANGEL - so glad Becky had a good weekend.

Also, did not want to quote everybody, but agreed with everybody about husbands/boyfriends not being excited until the day of. I laughed so hard because mine is the same way. He isn't coming on this trip but I go through the same thing. I will have to say, he is not comfortable until he is UNPACKED on the ship. We took a cruise in September and did not get our luggage till AFTER the sail away party. He looked so tense and upset. He was worried and when he finally unpacks, then he is on vacation. This is very unnerving for me. I usually do all the planning and fun stuff and he just comes along for the ride and loves everything - so that I am grateful for. IF he was coming on this cruise, he would definitely attend the powerpoint presentation. At least reading all the posts didn't make me feel like I was the only one with the non-planning husband. DH always tells me that he is involved with work, lots going on before then, can't think of anything else - maybe that is the case with some of your husbands.

 

[UKANGEL]

Fellow TA cruisers....I only wish we had some more information from Disney. I know that it is standard not to get flight info or GTY room assignment this early....but I check every single day.....sometimes twice....OK....sometimes 3 times....I myself is a little apprehensive since this will be the first time I will be flying for almost 9 hours....I am much better with the 2 plus hour flights from JFK to MCO.....anyway.....we are looking at the excursions and will need help when it comes to the money over there....my DW is very excited...we booked this over 2 years ago and she cannot wait....me.....excited but not looking forward to the transportation stuff....when I get on the Magic I will be very relieved and confortable since it will be like we are home. Looking forward to relaxing for 2 fabulous weeks and meeting a lot of new people.
Tom & Marilou

Looking forward to meeting you both too We too are waiting for cabin assignment and wishing the time away....




By the way, I'm sure this is probably on here somewhere (but couldn't find it) did I see a wine tasting session being organised? I know we've signed up for martini & dh for beer, but would love to try a wine one too if thats on offer!

 

[gismo1554]

Fellow TA cruisers....I only wish we had some more information from Disney. I know that it is standard not to get flight info or GTY room assignment this early....but I check every single day.....sometimes twice....OK....sometimes 3 times....I myself is a little apprehensive since this will be the first time I will be flying for almost 9 hours....I am much better with the 2 plus hour flights from JFK to MCO.....anyway.....we are looking at the excursions and will need help when it comes to the money over there....my DW is very excited...we booked this over 2 years ago and she cannot wait....me.....excited but not looking forward to the transportation stuff....when I get on the Magic I will be very relieved and confortable since it will be like we are home. Looking forward to relaxing for 2 fabulous weeks and meeting a lot of new people.
Tom & Marilou

Tom glad you are still sorting things out. Its easier flight wise for us as only a 2 hour over there and then the one back is the nightmare one!

 

[gismo1554]

Come See Me List

As Kimberley suggested I'm getting together a Come See Me List of info for people who want Disers to visit for any reason such as scrapbooks or autograph albums etc.

Could people PM me if they would like to be added to the list stating the reason why?

Also can people let me know anything they would like on the Embarkation "Don't forget" list

Great content, Sarah! Thank you!!

If others would benefit, I have two suggested topic additions.

• Come See Us
• Embarkation Don't Forget Checklist

Come See Us: On my last cruise, there were a handful of us
who asked for others to come visit our cabin door for one reason or
another. This is the case for me this time, too, because I want visitors
to come to sign my scrapbook page that I'll have up on my door
(click
here to see one I had on my door last time;
here's
another, too). Another reason people had was that they were home
schooling and wanted cruisers to stop by and mark on a flat global map
where they were from so they could incorporate that into a lesson when they
returned home. Are there any others who would like to have us
specifically stop by and see your cabin's entryway? I know I would go out
of my way to stop by and help you out!

Don't Forget Checklist: Although there aren't many, I know
that we still have some DCL first timers with us. On my first Disney
cruise, I wanted to make sure I had my priorities right when I boarded, so
I put a checklist of things you want to potentially address when you
embarked on our Meet's "go-to" post. You can see what we had on our
collective
list here. The list may need updated with current info (like I
don't know if the discount is give any longer), and I'm sure that there are
other checklist items that people here can suggest as well.

 

[MrsMork]

I fear we are going to end up sounding like Manuel from Fawlty Towers - Que?

That will be us!! Fawlty Towers is our favorite!!

I
Gibraltar should be just fine as far as English is concerned. I don't know what the situation is in Madeira. In Barcelona, we had big problems finding anybody who spoke English. The staff at our hotel spoke English and the lady at the tourist information office at the train station did. At the ticket office in the station, in shops and in the restaurant we ate at nobody spoke English. We coped alright with a lot of goodwill on both sides, a lot of pointing and waving and a good deal of persistance, but this was the only place we visited where we had any problems at all communicating.
Corinna

Dennis did learn enough Spanish to communicate with his non-English speaking patients at the pharmacy. So, if the need to discuss dosing or side-effects comes up we will be fine! He will probably be able to get us by if whomever is communicating with us speaks slowly!

 

[granmaz]

That will be us!! Fawlty Towers is our favorite!!




Dennis did learn enough Spanish to communicate with his non-English speaking patients at the pharmacy. So, if the need to discuss dosing or side-effects comes up we will be fine! He will probably be able to get us by if whomever is communicating with us speaks slowly!

Now Fawlty Towers is John's foremost favourite show!!! He laughs just hearing the name.

So, if we want medications on the Friday or Saturday morning before the cruise then we can call on Dennis to come along with us and translate!!!

 

[alexturner74]

Are you on the 5:55 flight? If so, Walt and Di are on the first leg from TX. We are in 15 and 16 A&B, Walt and Di are behind us. We can start the DIS meet early!!

Sue

Yes, the Delta/Air France (operated by Delta) flight at 5:55, direct ATL-BCN. I think we're 37 and 38 FG right now.

See Alex, you could provide valuable input, as you are planner husband. What do husbands really want to know, at least when they are ready to know, lol.

Pj

Every once in a while, either Jessica or I will let the other one take lead on planning. In that case, I would just tell Jessica to tell me when and where I have to be (oh, and what I have to wear)! There are some things however that I just can't give up control, like planning flights.

Alex

 

[got2travel]

I've been watching the availability every day. Well, I've been watching the pricing every day, just to see if the rates drop at all. Cat 12s are no longer listed. Not sure if that means they are full, or if DCL is repricing them to offer a sale? For the 2007 WBTA, the Cat 12s went on sale right before the 90 day mark. I switched from an 11 to a 12, saved $2k, then got upgraded up to a 9! So I'm keeping a close eye on it to see what kind of pixie dust shows up this time.