Sept 18 2010 WB TransAtlantic Pirates/Capt Jacks Re-Repoing Repossession Cruise Pt.6

[granmaz]

Marilyn,

Under the current Castaway Club program, any completed cruise counts as one point.

Some of us feel that to be fair, longer cruises (such as a Panama Canal or Transatlantic cruise) deserve additional credit.

It simply helps those who book longer cruises to reach Gold or Platinum levels faster.

Woody

Well I do agree with that, of course!!!!!!! After this cruise I would be almost Platinum if that were the case!!!

WOW! Small world. We love going to the Farmers Market.

Today the coffee at Philippes costs 9 cents. (Not a typo.) I remember when it was 5 cents.

Tomorrow we leave for Yosemite with some dear friends from Pasadena. That is, if I ever get off the computer and pack!

Woody

We really loved Yosemite, though we only drove through on very long day. It was mid to late September, so the camp sites etc were either closed or empty anyway, but the place is beautiful. We aren't into hiking these days, but love the views.

I hope you have a great trip.

So after MANY MANY hours of feeling like a total bum sitting in front of this computer I have finally read at least this "chapter" of the thread now. (If there was anything important in chapters 1-5 I will assume Johanna would have told me about it.)

Introductions for those who don't know me yet: (or you can wait until the icebreakers in the RBD - apparently I was pretty good at introducing myself there last time)... I'm Kimberly. But to avoid the Sarah/Ann/Lynn/Linda confusion you can call me Kimmy and Buckeye Gal can stay Kimberly. I sailed with some of these pirates in 2008 on the EBPC and that's where I met my roommate for this trip. And all I can say is thank GOD she's more organized than me and helps keep me on track!! We're doing Palo brunch & dinner and got all the excursions we wanted because she has stayed on top of it!! Works great cause I'm just here to go with the flow...

Look forward to trying to stay up with this thread from now on and look forward to meeting those of you I don't know yet.

Hi and welcome Kimmy.

No, no, no. Just trying to help out the economy.

Woody

I think I might try that one!!!! We just get hit for extra taxes to go on long haul holidays now though and they are going up and up!

Sorry I have to post this HERE, cause I cannot send a PM, cause I have not send enough posts...

TO ERIK:

Hey Erik,
sorry I am sooo late.
But I totally missed the lanyard production.

Do I/we have a chance to jump on the bus still?
I am sorry. I do not even really know what they cost. Or anything.
Do you might have a pic how they look like?

Sorry to disturb you.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH and a BIG HELLO from Germany.
Steffi.

...

I will try to follow you guys here. But you guys are sooo fast. And raising a baby boy, who will turn 1 in two weeks, I am pretty busy during the day!

But I will try to write here, cause I love boards!!!!

I will introduce me/us later. I am off to bed now... Because baby is a sleep.

Looking forward to meeting you on booooooooard... the Magic

Steffi from Germany.

Hi Steffi, looking forward to meeting you.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Krisann and Kimberly,

We are adding pre- and post-cruise travel to the WBTA, for a total vacation of eight weeks.

We'll unpack one day.

Woody

I think you have my dream life .... any chance of a swap

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am glad too!! I immediately tucked that address away for a special occasion! See. Yes. You are right. I'm always thinking about others. Maybe it's the Libra in me.

Tiffany (Gradysmommy) is amazing with her talent and has a sweet, fun personality! We sailed with her nearly two years ago. She's one of those special gems with a heart of gold! I just love it when I look at cabin door pictures and videos and see fish extenders that she's made for people. She's really become the FE queen of the seas! Do you like the pillow cases? What characters did you get on them?

At our DIS meets, Tiffany approached me with a big hug and thank you. She then handed over to me this beautiful large light pink lined tote with turquoise and brown hibiscus flowers on it that she made for me.....just because. That's just how she is! It's going with me on this cruise, so you'll see it! It just ever so discretely has miniatures Minnies and dotted hidden Mickey heads on it. She made one for herself, too, so there were times we were walking around the ship with the same bag!! She and her family were booked on this cruise with us, but they had to change their plans last summer. I was so disappointed that they switched to another cruise, but lucky them, they got to do a B2B and managed to surprise the kids with the second cruise until after they got disembarked from the first leg of their adventure! You would have loved her! Hopefully you will get a chance to meet her some day!

Oh, I knew that she was booked, but had somehow missed that they had to jump ship. I would have loved to meet her. I have two different Fish Extenders from her and she also made some pillow cases for me and the family I gave to for Secret Mickey on the last cruise.

Attention Daniel Taxi Madeira Tour Update Post Two of Two


These are the answers to questions some of you asked me to ask her. Any more, please let me know.

Hello again Noel,

1. For your tour to include the Cable car and the Toboggan rides, plus the
West tour and to have you back in Funchal for your Blandy's tour at 4:30pm,
I'm afraid there won't be enough time for a swim in the volcanic pools in
Porto Moniz. In fact, we'll tell the driver to have you at Blandy's no later
than 4:15pm. This whole itinerary will take something like 7 hours, but
stops will have to be short, otherwise it'll take longer.

2. Likewise, it won't be possible to spend extra time in Monte, after the
Cable Car ride.

3. Children usually like the Toboggan ride. Apart from that, Madeira doesn't
have many options specially directed to children as tourists.


Hope you're having a nice day!

Cheers,

Eusébia.

Shame about the volcanic pools. I would have loved this and would rather have missed out on something else, but then I am a water baby.

As to van versus bus, I rather would stick with the vans. I am sure the drivers will be more than capable to give us a run down of the place and it gives us more flexibility.

Yes, thus my concern about whether or not I'd be able to book the Fantasy if the bookings are opened up to Gold and Platinum members during our cruise. Doesn't hurt to ask, but I'll be very bummed if I can't.



I'm not 100% sure, but I thought Platinum and Concierge have the same booking windows. But remember starting in 2011 the OBCs for rebooked cruises increase based on your CC status, so I think you'd get a higher OBC if you were platinum than if you were Gold. You'd also get a free Palo dinner as Platinum that you won't get as gold or concierge.

I asked the question about the OBC on my Med cruise. We were considering booking a cruise on board, but were not sure if we would lose out on OBC if we did. Originally I had read on here that if you book during your 5th or 10th cruise, you get the OBC for Gold or Platinum. Well, the Med cruise was only our 4th cruise. We were told that this would not make any difference. Apparently when it comes to OBC, they look not when the cruise was booked, but what your status is when you are actually sailing.

So, this VAT.....we prepaid for flamenco show/dinner. Are they going to add a VAT when we go, or is it included in the quoted price??? Oh, so much to learn for this country girl. We don't even have a sales tax in MT. It costs what it costs here.

VAT in Europe is not like sales tax in the USA. It is included in the price you see, but a certain percentage of this has to be sent to the government. Sometimes VAT is shown on receipts and sometimes it is not.

Sorry I have to post this HERE, cause I cannot send a PM, cause I have not send enough posts...

TO ERIK:

Hey Erik,
sorry I am sooo late.
But I totally missed the lanyard production.

Do I/we have a chance to jump on the bus still?
I am sorry. I do not even really know what they cost. Or anything.
Do you might have a pic how they look like?

Sorry to disturb you.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH and a BIG HELLO from Germany.
Steffi.

...

I will try to follow you guys here. But you guys are sooo fast. And raising a baby boy, who will turn 1 in two weeks, I am pretty busy during the day!

But I will try to write here, cause I love boards!!!!

I will introduce me/us later. I am off to bed now... Because baby is a sleep.

Looking forward to meeting you on booooooooard... the Magic

Steffi from Germany.

on board. Whereabouts in Bavaria are you from? I am also German, but have lived in the UK for the past 14 years. My DH, who I will be travelling with, is English. I was born and grew up in Frankfurt/ Main.

Corinna

 

[granmaz]

Just a FYI abut the roads in Madeira. They can be VERY narrow and bendy!!!

We had a hire car when we spent our week there and I really didn't like being out and about off the main roads. They park cars all over the place, even on the dodgy bends and i got so nervous. However you will have experience Madeiran drivers, so that shouldn't be a problem, but i think I would go for smaller vehicles if I had to choose. Having said that, if they have big buses, then they must expect to be able to drive them around everywhere, and there were a huge number parked up at Cabo Girao every day.

When you go to Cabo Girao on your trip to see the highest cliff in Europe, take a look over where you will probably park, or at least where you will walk to the cliff. There is a lovely resort built into the curve of the hill and that is where we stayed. It has fantastic views of Funchal. Look also at the cultivated fields right on the cliff edges. The farmers go right to the edges and even over the edges to work on their fields.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

jUST A REMINDER FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO SIGN UP ..... LIST CLOSES JULY 1ST.

Secret Mickey

Welcome to the WBTA Secret Mickey:

This works along the same idea as a Secret Santa. Each participating stateroom will be matched with another stateroom, and the idea is to buy or make a gift or gifts, with a total cost per cabin of no more than $25. The gift (s) can be one big joint gift for all those in the stateroom, or small individual gifts for each person. The gifts can be left in the FE during the cruise, or you can have the room attendant put the gift in the room. You should have a tag/card that designates it as a gift from their Secret Mickey.

To enable me to match up the rooms, I will need the following information from each participating group:

1. name of participants
2. ages and genders of any children participating
3. DIS name
4. cabin number
5. each person's likes or preferences
6. each person's dislikes
7. any allergies
8. favourite Disney characters for each participant
9. hobbies or interests of each participant


This will help give the participants some idea of what they can incorporate into their gift.

Could you please PM TotallyAngelic with the information required.

There will have to be a closing date to give people time to think about and make / buy their gifts, and I think July 1st would be about right.

Secret Mickey Participants:

su kraft and buckeye goofy
yukongirl123
PJPoohBear
Magicme
MM4MM
Birkner
KC'sPrincess
Dolphingirl47
1disneyqueen
coconut1
noworriesmate
cruzdirectorkaren
terapin
krisannb
tru

Don't forget to PM the required information to me if you haven't already done so .... THANKS

 

[pilk]

Off topic, but do we have any DISers from the Chicago area?

"Off topic" I didn't think this group could stick to one topic in the first place. In the past six threads we have discussed numerous things some of them at the same time which made for some interesting reading if you had not been following the complete conversation, ie recycling underwear

Jon

 

[FrauP]

on board. Whereabouts in Bavaria are you from? I am also German, but have lived in the UK for the past 14 years. My DH, who I will be travelling with, is English. I was born and grew up in Frankfurt/ Main.

Corinna

Hey Corinna, we live near Nuremberg. So you are German? Das ist ja schoen! Es werden einige Deutsche on Board sein. Denn wir reisen mit einigen Freunden.

Ok, I'll talk to you guys later...
Steffi.

Thx for the warm welcome.

 

[LittleDisneyLovers]

"Off topic" I didn't think this group could stick to one topic in the first place. In the past six threads we have discussed numerous things some of them at the same time which made for some interesting reading if you had not been following the complete conversation, ie recycling underwear

Jon

We got to know each other well with that chat, huh

 

[granmaz]

We got to know each other well with that chat, huh

And let's not mention eye patches!!!

 

[HallsofVA]

I asked the question about the OBC on my Med cruise. We were considering booking a cruise on board, but were not sure if we would lose out on OBC if we did. Originally I had read on here that if you book during your 5th or 10th cruise, you get the OBC for Gold or Platinum. Well, the Med cruise was only our 4th cruise. We were told that this would not make any difference. Apparently when it comes to OBC, they look not when the cruise was booked, but what your status is when you are actually sailing.

Corinna

Yes, I also confirmed on an earlier cruise that the OBC amounts will be based on your level at the time you cruise, not when you booked.

My concern is about being able to book at all if they open the early booking window for gold and platinums during our cruise.

 

[FrauP]

The little baby boy is asleep again.

My short introduction.
DH Oliver and I plus DS Simon and DD(og) Moogie live in Bavaria/Germany near Nuremberg.

This is going to be our 4th Disney Cruise. (3x Magic, 1x Wonder).

We are travelling with a bunch of friends. Which will be GREAT. Simon's Godmother is also with us...

Again in a hurry...
If you have questions... just ask.

Very excited meeting you...


Steffi.

 

[su_kraft]

.
Called DCL Castaway Club number. I was told you have to have COMPLETED 5 cruises to be gold and 10 to be platinum. Knowing good old DCL, the next person to call will get a different answer!!

I was told that you had to complete 5 to be gold, and complete 10 to be platinum. If you book cruise 6 on board, you don't get the gold OBC - but you do get the advanced booking perks and the gold gift in your cabin.

Off topic, but do we have any DISers from the Chicago area?

I grew up in Chicago, moved all over, landed in MD and then we headed South...

I have one of her FE's too!! She did it to my vague instructions on how i wanted it to look and it is perfect!
Bella's pillowcase has Minnie Mouse, who else, she lives, eats and breaths Minnie! Lucy has Ariel, She loves Alice but Tiffany didn't have any Alice pictures so we went 2nd favourite. They've both seen them and love them.
Tiffany sounds like an awesome lady, I even got that vibe from our short e-mail communication, What a pity we're not cruising together, I would love to meet her. Oh well, I have lots of other friends I am looking forward to meeting, Like you!

I have a FE by Gradys Mom as well. 3 pockets and very personalized. I didn't get pillowcases from her though - I got them from DIS. I can't think of her name, but someone is doing them for cost. She only does so many a month and we just got our confirmation that we made the list. I can't wait to see them!

"Off topic" I didn't think this group could stick to one topic in the first place. In the past six threads we have discussed numerous things some of them at the same time which made for some interesting reading if you had not been following the complete conversation, ie recycling underwear

Jon

I know we don't stay on a topic long, but I really don't remembering chatting about recycling underware...

 

[woody73]

I think you have my dream life .... any chance of a swap

I can't cook. Tony might be disappointed.

Woody

 

[Buckeye Gal]

...My short introduction.
DH Oliver and I plus DS Simon and DD(og) Moogie live in Bavaria/Germany near Nuremberg.

This is going to be our 4th Disney Cruise. (3x Magic, 1x Wonder).

We are travelling with a bunch of friends. Which will be GREAT. Simon's Godmother is also with us....

Welcome, Steffi!! I felt like I knew your DISboard name, so I looked. Sure enough, you were on the Double Dip Delight cruise with us in September 2008 with your parents, right? I never got to meet you though! Glad we'll have that chance this time!! There are others from that cruise on this one, too!

So do you have big birthday plans in place for Simon?

 

[Belle1997]

Well the "did you get a fuel credit or not is sure interesting. As of right now we are in the no we did nto get a credit.


I love how Disney thinks we will not notice. Up until the time for the credit the cost for a category 11 was 999. Now it is higher to cover the added fuel charge with out saying it has a fuel charge.

As for me we got upgraded from an 11 to a 8. (since Disney messed up and gave our cat 11 away.) Because we needed an accessible room. It did not give us the opportunity to cancel and rebook at the lower price.

I still would have liked the 11 we had because it was huge.

The most frustrating thing is finding tours or things I can do. I can walk short distances. But the info on the Disney site is pathetic in helping me know what I may be able to do.

So we take cruises an only see the shops at port. Would love to see more.

Kim how is the new Puppy doing? She is adorable. Any new pics

The Madeira Taxi tours sounds great. Now to figure out if hubby and I can take it

 

[mdwoodman]

Have you checked out our Global Google Map yet? I know not everyone has put their info on there, but I do seem to recall at one point that there was a couple just north of Chicago. Maybe that was you! Nonetheless, it's certainly good to ask here!

I should have thought of that! It's MM4MM (Skokie, IL). I'm just here on business travel this week and looking for some ideas for evening distractions. We're actually the ones on the Google map right next to Port Canaveral (Oviedo, FL).

 

[Buckeye Gal]

.....As for me we got upgraded from an 11 to a 8....I still would have liked the 11 we had because it was huge.....Kim how is the new Puppy doing? She is adorable. Any new pics ...

Well I hope that the Cat 8 room will surprise you and you'll be happy with it!

I haven't been back up to my mom's since I last posted pictures, so I don't have any new mugs of Daisy. My mom is terrible at taking pictures, much less technically challenged to get them out of her camera, so I don't even have any that she's taken. When I left, I kept stressing to her that she needs to take lots of pictures because after Daisy gets her first spa appointment on the 28th, all that soft "baby hair" fluff will be gone and she'll look totally different! Hopefully she'll listen to her daughter!

Kimberly

 

[Buckeye Gal]

I should have thought of that! It's MM4MM (Skokie, IL). I'm just here on business travel this week and looking for some ideas for evening distractions. We're actually the ones on the Google map right next to Port Canaveral (Oviedo, FL).

Well that would indeed be a good distraction then! Brilliant idea to find your DIS friends!

 

[birkner]

Shame about the volcanic pools. I would have loved this and would rather have missed out on something else, but then I am a water baby.

As to van versus bus, I rather would stick with the vans. I am sure the drivers will be more than capable to give us a run down of the place and it gives us more flexibility.



I asked the question about the OBC on my Med cruise. We were considering booking a cruise on board, but were not sure if we would lose out on OBC if we did. Originally I had read on here that if you book during your 5th or 10th cruise, you get the OBC for Gold or Platinum. Well, the Med cruise was only our 4th cruise. We were told that this would not make any difference. Apparently when it comes to OBC, they look not when the cruise was booked, but what your status is when you are actually sailing.



VAT in Europe is not like sales tax in the USA. It is included in the price you see, but a certain percentage of this has to be sent to the government. Sometimes VAT is shown on receipts and sometimes it is not.

Corinna

I am trying to slow the tour down so perhaps at least spend some time at one of the pools is a question I am trying to get answered. I also did email them to express our collective desire to have vans versus buses. I am awaiting a response which I will then post.

My understanding from my phone call to DCL is that you have to have COMPLETED the cruise prior to sailing to qualify.

Thanks for the explanation about the VAT. I am assuming that if we get a paid in full invoice that the VAT has been paid. Am I correct?

 

[birkner]

Just a FYI abut the roads in Madeira. They can be VERY narrow and bendy!!!

We had a hire car when we spent our week there and I really didn't like being out and about off the main roads. They park cars all over the place, even on the dodgy bends and i got so nervous. However you will have experience Madeiran drivers, so that shouldn't be a problem, but i think I would go for smaller vehicles if I had to choose. Having said that, if they have big buses, then they must expect to be able to drive them around everywhere, and there were a huge number parked up at Cabo Girao every day.

When you go to Cabo Girao on your trip to see the highest cliff in Europe, take a look over where you will probably park, or at least where you will walk to the cliff. There is a lovely resort built into the curve of the hill and that is where we stayed. It has fantastic views of Funchal. Look also at the cultivated fields right on the cliff edges. The farmers go right to the edges and even over the edges to work on their fields.

Thanks for the detailed explanation about the roads. After seeing our proposed itinerary, do you see anything of significance that we have left off our tour? Also, any idea how long it takes to drive to Cabo Girao?