Sept 18 2010 WB TransAtlantic Pirates/Capt Jacks Re-Repoing Repossession Cruise Pt.9

[birkner]

I've added a note saying Euros can't be used!

Thank you!!

 

[valbob89]

Sending Dennis plenty of PD for tomorrow...

Best wishes to Dennis and you. I think sometimes it is harder on the support person then the patient.

I am sure you have heard all this but we were at our opthomologist last week and he was explaining the cataract surgery to us. It sounds like such a wonderful thing and really safeproof. He said there is no real risk anymore and little or no discomfort after. Here in the US, most insurance policies, including medicare, only pay for the basic coverage lenses but if we want to pay for it they can insert corrective lenses for almost any condition, giving us 20/20 vision or better. We would never need glasses again. So my DH won't need his trifocals. It is amazing.

We'll be thinking about you. val

 

[Disney Sweetie]

I did ask about just applying them to our account and was told only if they had been purchased onboard. However, we all know that 6 calls to DCL will usually get 6 different answers.

I called DCL again and the answer was still NO, we cannot apply Euros to our shipboard account and they will not give us US dollars for them unless they are purchased onboard, and they do keep track of who purchased what. Requires cash or travelers checks for purchase.

I used all my left over Euros to pay on my onboard account in 2007 on the WBTA....oh well, guess they have changed the rules for this cruise!!!

 

[birkner]

The St Maarten Tour is now closed at 36 persons

If anyone wants to go on a waiting list to see if we get at least 10 persons to fill another van, please pm me.

I will be doing van assignments this week. I will be sending out a broadcast email shortly to ask who people which other DISers they would like to be with in their van.

Please understand I will try to accommodate people as much as possible. Just a reminder there are 12 persons per van.

If you are on this tour, please PM me as soon as you can so I can make these assignments.

The people on the tour are:
grmmybtty (betty & armando)
birkner (noel & john)
luvdamouse91(melissa & mike)
custardtart (karen)
valbob (val & bob)
yukongirl123 (janice + 1paulcrsb (paul)
terapin - (carolynn & 6 other family members)
steamboat will (warren & abby)
we're aliens (jane & dave)
dolphingirl47 (corninna & graham)
sezmo (sarah & elizabeth)
con5421 (connie & patrick)
tink,too (lynn & 2 family members)
okwjim (jim & Judy)
feebs (julie & chris)

 

[granmaz]

He does need to rest just for a couple of days. I promise he will be very comfortable in the queen bed in the RV and I will not make him chop wood for the campfire!

Oh, I knew you would be looking after him well Angie. I think I just realised how far this operation and after care had come. It is like the day case gall bladder removal operations. Just amazing the medical advances we have seen.

 

[MagicMe]

He's cold is better, he is a bit anxious today as the eye surgery is tomorrow. He is reading all about it I tell him too much info! We will be glad to be done with that and then Thursday will finish up with the 2 last root canals. We should be right as rain by the weekend. We will be camping (RV not really roughing it!) Wed thru Sunday. We will be close by so will drive into town Thursday for the dental appt then take him back out to the camp and put him to bed. Lots of friends joining us by Friday. 7 of us Wed on and another 6 coming in Fri night and a final 2 joining us Sun night. We expect to eat alot - well maybe not Dennis so much with the fresh dental work!! I did tell him you were asking about him and he was very touched. Can't wait to meet in person!

Wishing Dennis a very succesful eye surgery and good luck on the dental work. Speedy recovery from everything!

 

[UKANGEL]

Thats brill re the dress, sounds like you had a nice day out, I am at work and have the central heating up full bum.

Thanks Lynne, we did. Sorry you had to work (again!)...I know what you mean about the heating......

He's cold is better, he is a bit anxious today as the eye surgery is tomorrow. He is reading all about it I tell him too much info! We will be glad to be done with that and then Thursday will finish up with the 2 last root canals. We should be right as rain by the weekend. We will be camping (RV not really roughing it!) Wed thru Sunday. We will be close by so will drive into town Thursday for the dental appt then take him back out to the camp and put him to bed. Lots of friends joining us by Friday. 7 of us Wed on and another 6 coming in Fri night and a final 2 joining us Sun night. We expect to eat alot - well maybe not Dennis so much with the fresh dental work!! I did tell him you were asking about him and he was very touched. Can't wait to meet in person!

I shall be thinking of Dennis (and you too) tomorrow morning Angie, the surgery sounds amazing really. I'm glad they can do something to help

Well I would think the best thing would be not having to claim on your insurance. It is free to get.

Ah...true! Told you I was having a blonde moment......

He does need to rest just for a couple of days. I promise he will be very comfortable in the queen bed in the RV and I will not make him chop wood for the campfire!

As if you would!

I think it's only of use in Barcelona and Madeira where it entitles you to state provided health care should you need it. That's not to say you won't be charged at the time and then have to claim the cost back.. Apparently some insurers now insist you have the EHIC and will waive the excess if you do - tho' I checked our annual policy with Amex and they don't mention it... Here's some info, Mandy.

Thanks Kaz, will check that out.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Great to know. I tried to make it an ePub, so one could change font size, it didn't work out so well and was really changed from Sarah's vision, so I went with just the .PDF version.

Pj

I can actually change the Font size for most pages. It is just the pages that contain a table that cannot be changed.

OK...so here is what my hair looked like before noon today......

My hair is naturally pretty curly:

....but I sometimes wear it straight:

And either way I wear it...it takes a lot of work....and a LOT of product:

(which is exactly why I wanted to cut it, because I didn't want to have to carry all that stuff with me!! )


So here is the new look..................

I am still getting used to it...but I like it and it's going to be a lot easier to take care of I'm sure!!

This really suits you

So today was totally wasted by a stomach bug that I picked up somewhere. Yesterday I was feeling funny but I thought it was the new injectable medicine I just started. I worked at the Disney Store last night and I felt pretty bad the entire night. When I finally got home, I started to feel really sick and sadly I didn't really sleep much at all last night. I sent my poor husband away for the day so he doesn't catch it too. I hate, hate, HATE being sick.

I hope that you feel better soon.

I got mine!!!!! I will send you a PM incase you miss this post. Thanks so much, looks pretty and girly, can't wait!!!

Thanks for letting me know that brings down the packages with kits on the missing list to 7, three of which were sent to Canada. I hope that they all get there tomorrow.

For our European cruisers, do you have to buy US Dollars in order to pay your DCL account? I guess I never gave it much thought before.

We have always used our credit card to settle the onboard account. This time round, I will phone DCL to add some onboard credit to cover the photo CD, the tastings and maybe a small photo package and the rest will be charged to the card. Hopefully the onboard credit that we get from DCL and DU will cover the Rainforest Room so there will be just charges for souvenirs and drinks that have to be paid at the end of the cruise.

He's cold is better, he is a bit anxious today as the eye surgery is tomorrow. He is reading all about it I tell him too much info! We will be glad to be done with that and then Thursday will finish up with the 2 last root canals. We should be right as rain by the weekend. We will be camping (RV not really roughing it!) Wed thru Sunday. We will be close by so will drive into town Thursday for the dental appt then take him back out to the camp and put him to bed. Lots of friends joining us by Friday. 7 of us Wed on and another 6 coming in Fri night and a final 2 joining us Sun night. We expect to eat alot - well maybe not Dennis so much with the fresh dental work!! I did tell him you were asking about him and he was very touched. Can't wait to meet in person!

Dennis is in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that everything goes smoothly and that he will feel much better for it.

We had our spa day today and it was amazing. We both had booked a neck, back and shoulder massage, but this morning I was given the option to have a facial, shoulder massage and scalp massage instead and I went for this option. We then had a couple of hours to use the gym and pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room, before I had my second treatment, which was the Ginger and Lime Salt Glow. It was absolutely divine. I also found out that they do a hot stone massage after all (it was removed from the price list about 6 months ago) and I booked myself in for this on September 10th. Looks like Captain Mickey is not getting any of my spa Dollars this time round.

After the last treatment, I met up with Graham again and we had a lovely Japanese meal near the spa. Now I am just catching up with things and I will work on the last two things on my to do list for today shortly. One has already been done.

Corinna

 

[paulasillars]

I posted something similar a month or so ago, but general consensus seemed to be that folk would tip anyway. I bet they love Americans!!!

Just keep in mind it would be like going into a shop and spending more than the ticket price when you tip. The drivers are paid a good wage and do not rely on tips for their income. Probably not so bad in developed countries but beware tipping in developing countries where it is not the cultural norm - its encourages a begging society.

ooo, my nd has huge long eyelashe(doesnt get it from me) anyway, when she was little they used to curl up because of her glasses, now she cant wear mascara cause it gets on her specs bless her, wish she was crusing with us.

I have the same issue with my eyelashes touching my sunglasses - a friend put me onto eyelash curlers - super easy to use and now if I use it, I can wear mascara AND my sunglasses

OK....question for you guys....we are flying in Saturday morning and being picked up by Disney.....do we need to get euros before we leave or can we just wait til we get on the ship. We are not going to do anything in Barcelona as of right now.....what do you think?
Tom

For small amounts of cash, I'd just use the ATM and forget about the small fee they charge - its convenient and means you won't have extra to change back again if its true about DCL not accepting Euros onto onboard accounts - else change them at the bank in St Maarten back to US$ and put that onto your account instead.

Good Morning from California. Hi, I'm Judy from the San Francisco Bay area and this is my first, but I don't think last, Disney cruise. My birthday was a week ago and I turned 60. My DH gave me this cruise as a birthday present and I will be traveling with four friends, 3 cabins. We are meeting up in Barcelona from different places in the US. My cabin mate, Shanna, will be celebrating her 37th birthday on Sept 28th so this is a special cruise for both of us.

Happy birthday! You and your friend Shanna will be in good company - there are lots of people in similar age groups and we are all young at heart.

For our European cruisers, do you have to buy US Dollars in order to pay your DCL account? I guess I never gave it much thought before.

It goes straight onto my CC - never used cash before.

 

[TChrist05]

So let me get this straight...we are getting in about 8 am in the morning of sail day....we may or may not get a quick tour of Barcelona by DCL transportation....if we board the ship when they allow us to will we be able to leave and explore for a little while or is it when you are on the ship you stay on the ship? I must apologize that we have so many questions--this is our first cruise where we do not get the ship in Port Canaveral.....
Thanks all....
Tom

 

[MrsMork]

Best wishes to Dennis and you. I think sometimes it is harder on the support person then the patient.

I am sure you have heard all this but we were at our opthomologist last week and he was explaining the cataract surgery to us. It sounds like such a wonderful thing and really safeproof. He said there is no real risk anymore and little or no discomfort after. Here in the US, most insurance policies, including medicare, only pay for the basic coverage lenses but if we want to pay for it they can insert corrective lenses for almost any condition, giving us 20/20 vision or better. We would never need glasses again. So my DH won't need his trifocals. It is amazing.

We'll be thinking about you. val

His opthomologist said they have had some issues with the new lenses that allow for both far and near sight, so he did not recommend them yet. Dennis will have 20/20 but will need readers for close up. He is very happy with that! Actually, for now since they are only doing one eye, they said he should be able to see far with the fixed eye and close with the unfixed eye if he just lets his brain do what it should with the eyes. If not and if it bothers him then he will have the second done when we get home.

Oh, I knew you would be looking after him well Angie. I think I just realised how far this operation and after care had come. It is like the day case gall bladder removal operations. Just amazing the medical advances we have seen.

It certainly is! I heard a couple of years ago that they were starting to do some heart bypass surgeries without cracking open the chest, using the same scope procedure they do for the gallbladders. Amazing!!

Wishing Dennis a very succesful eye surgery and good luck on the dental work. Speedy recovery from everything!

Thank you, he really is very touched by all this support from our DIS family.

Dennis is in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that everything goes smoothly and that he will feel much better for it.

We had our spa day today and it was amazing. We both had booked a neck, back and shoulder massage, but this morning I was given the option to have a facial, shoulder massage and scalp massage instead and I went for this option. We then had a couple of hours to use the gym and pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room, before I had my second treatment, which was the Ginger and Lime Salt Glow. It was absolutely divine. I also found out that they do a hot stone massage after all (it was removed from the price list about 6 months ago) and I booked myself in for this on September 10th. Looks like Captain Mickey is not getting any of my spa Dollars this time round.

After the last treatment, I met up with Graham again and we had a lovely Japanese meal near the spa. Now I am just catching up with things and I will work on the last two things on my to do list for today shortly. One has already been done.

Corinna

Oh that sounds like an amazing day!!!

 

[dolphingirl47]

So let me get this straight...we are getting in about 8 am in the morning of sail day....we may or may not get a quick tour of Barcelona by DCL transportation....if we board the ship when they allow us to will we be able to leave and explore for a little while or is it when you are on the ship you stay on the ship? I must apologize that we have so many questions--this is our first cruise where we do not get the ship in Port Canaveral.....
Thanks all....
Tom

This is the big question. On the first Med cruise, once you were on the ship, you were not allowed to get off again. I know a few weeks ago somebody contacted DCL about this and was advised that people would be allowed off after the safety drill. Personally, I would play it safe if I wanted to do any sightseeing or shopping and would do it before checking in.

Corinna

 

[MrsMork]

Just keep in mind it would be like going into a shop and spending more than the ticket price when you tip. The drivers are paid a good wage and do not rely on tips for their income. Probably not so bad in developed countries but beware tipping in developing countries where it is not the cultural norm - its encourages a begging society.

I think we will just go with the local custom and not tip. Tips here are really because they do not get a living wage.


For small amounts of cash, I'd just use the ATM and forget about the small fee they charge - its convenient and means you won't have extra to change back again if its true about DCL not accepting Euros onto onboard accounts - else change them at the bank in St Maarten back to US$ and put that onto your account instead.

So, for us inexperienced travelers...can we just go to any bank in St Maarten and change any left over Euros to US dollars?

 

[HallsofVA]

What a wonderful dream!! John and I were "dreaming" of having the Walt on this cruise with the grandkids but alas that is all it was, a dream!!

You know, you'd think they'd give the Walt and Roy rooms better room numbers than they have on the current ships. 8030 and 8530 just aren't very special numbers, and not ones that come up easily in dreams!

Oh, well, instead of DCL getting my extra Euros (if I have any) I will just use them in either Barcelona or Madeira. It is their loss, not mine!!

Don't forget you can always use extra euros in St. Martin! Though the last time we did the Eastern cruise, on the DCL beach excursion to Orient Beach, we were all given little laminated cards that gave us a 1:1 exchange rate for euros to dollars since they didn't expect us to have any euros. That's obviously a good exchange rate! But if you find yourself in a store with real euro pricing, your euros will work there!

With so many europeans on the cruise, it seems like we could figure out a way to do our own currency exchange at the end of the cruise!

 

[Steffy]

Good Morning from California. Hi, I'm Judy from the San Francisco Bay area and this is my first, but I don't think last, Disney cruise. My birthday was a week ago and I turned 60. My DH gave me this cruise as a birthday present and I will be traveling with four friends, 3 cabins. We are meeting up in Barcelona from different places in the US. My cabin mate, Shanna, will be celebrating her 37th birthday on Sept 28th so this is a special cruise for both of us. Shanna is one of my best friends so you might can tell that I am young at heart even if the old body doesn't think so! We have both cruised, separately, on different cruise lines but neither of us have been on a Disney cruise. The other three in our group have and love it! They said we would never go on another cruise line after this trip. I am a Disney freak and have been to DL so many times I don't think I can count but never to WDW, so will make it happen at the end of this cruise. Thank you all again for the info and the welcome. I looking forward to meeting you.

Judy

Judy!

I'm Stephanie and I'm traveling with my best friend forever, Terry (tinker1bell) We are both turning 60 on this cruise. Me on the 18th and Terry shares Shanna's birthday.

I think you are in for the time of your life. I sure hope so. Can't wait to meet you.

 

[Steffy]

My DH John was in Barcelona in February of this year for the Mobile World Congress. When John took a cab in February from the Plaça d'Espanya which is near the Magic Fountain of Montujic to his hotel the HCC Open which is 10 minutes by cab, it cost him 20 Euros.

Ouch!!!

 

[birkner]

Originally Posted by birkner
My DH John was in Barcelona in February of this year for the Mobile World Congress. When John took a cab in February from the Plaça d'Espanya which is near the Magic Fountain of Montujic to his hotel the HCC Open which is 10 minutes by cab, it cost him 20 Euros.
---End Quote---

Ouch!!!

He took cabs at least 20 times for the same distance and that was the going rate!!

 

[orlandothebeagle]

I know this has been asked and answered lots of times,

but.. if we have to be out our apartment at 11am, can we go straight to the ship? 15 mins away?

Has Disney given the same answer twice to whether you can get of the ship again or not?

 

[granmaz]

It certainly is! I heard a couple of years ago that they were starting to do some heart bypass surgeries without cracking open the chest, using the same scope procedure they do for the gallbladders. Amazing!!

Wow, that will help recovery in such a major operation.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I know this has been asked and answered lots of times,

but.. if we have to be out our apartment at 11am, can we go straight to the ship? 15 mins away?

Has Disney given the same answer twice to whether you can get of the ship again or not?

The port opens at 10:30 so you will be fine to head straight there.

Corinna