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

[minimousefan]

Don't worry thats all I have too! I think its due to the fact that immigration at the port don't have access to computers like they do in airports so I assume Disney will be sending them the ESTA numbers so they can look them up before we arrive.

We however haven't had anything to say we need this! I'm thinking I might reprint ours just incase

yeah just got one today

currently speaking to DCL and guess what they know nothing about the letter or what ESTA is

been on the line for ages

i pointed out the website says you only need the number and it really does not give you the facility to print everything out

just got off line from a cast member and they are basically clueless about all this including ESTA

seriously they know nothing about it



spoke to someone called marnie and she said oh we will get back to you

i have done mine and it was approved and it has all my details where i am staying etc

but what i want to know is do i have to do anything else .. do i have to do it again is it still valid

i checked the esta website and it says i am still approved

SHAME ON DISNEY >> REALLY BAD SHOW > 14 days out and you send an ambiguous note that no one in DCL services knows anything about

NOT IMPRESSED

 

[granmaz]

yeah just got one today

currently speaking to DCL and guess what they know nothing about the letter or what ESTA is

been on the line for ages

i pointed out the website says you only need the number and it really does not give you the facility to print everything out

just got off line from a cast member and they are basically clueless about all this including ESTA

seriously they know nothing about it



spoke to someone called marnie and she said oh we will get back to you

i have done mine and it was approved and it has all my details where i am staying etc

but what i want to know is do i have to do anything else .. do i have to do it again is it still valid

i checked the esta website and it says i am still approved

SHAME ON DISNEY >> REALLY BAD SHOW > 14 days out and you send an ambiguous note that no one in DCL services knows anything about

NOT IMPRESSED

That is what I was expecting, BUT, to give them their due, this is the first time they will have had to take note of Esta's as last time they did a WB TA those entering from Esta required countries would have had to fill in the green forms like we did on the planes. Normally we all go in to the US through an airport, and the airports had plenty of problems when it was first brought in. In fact they had over a year to work things through.

Anyway, I have my acceptance number printed out, so that should be enough for them to access my information. I see delays though.

 

[minimousefan]

That is what I was expecting, BUT, to give them their due, this is the first time they will have had to take note of Esta's as last time they did a WB TA those entering from Esta required countries would have had to fill in the green forms like we did on the planes. Normally we all go in to the US through an airport, and the airports had plenty of problems when it was first brought in. In fact they had over a year to work things through.

Anyway, I have my acceptance number printed out, so that should be enough for them to access my information. I see delays though.

yeah i am fairly sure i am good been authorised have a full printout and the website when i check says its fine i am authorised

what i do not like is that yeah they have had a full year to sort this all out

no one can give a decent level of support and given it actually says on the web you just need the number

i only printed it out cause my TA said you should print out

yeah i see major delays and alot of very fed up guests it could get ugly if people are delayed for ages because disney left organising this to the last minute


jason

 

[KC's Princess]

Someone many pages (and probably parts) back in this thread gave a really good tip about how to buy a gift certificate or onboard credit for the cruise on the Disney Visa to get 0% interest for 6 months.

I can't remember: -how do I buy it to get that benefit?
-what am I asking to buy?
- does it still work if I didn't pay for the cruise on the card?

Getting really excited, but still SOOO not ready. Trying to kick into gear!

Thanks!

 

[Candy Apple]

Ok, thank you. We'll have some covers with us...

And I have one more question. Just to not offend anybody, because we are European and quite ... "liberal"...
Americans are not "offended" by me changing his diapers right at the pool? Are they? I mean... seriously...

I don't know if anyone will be offended, but at our local pool you are not allowed to change diapers by the pool. You must go to the restroom to change diapers so you can wash your hands after doing the diaper change. I think it is a regulation to prevent fecal material (poop) from entering the pool. I don't know if the Magic has the same rule, but they might as they have certain regulations they must follow, also.

 

[birkner]

I've also been travelling almost non-stop for work recently, and the time at home has been spent getting ready for the next trip, or getting the kids ready to start school, or getting all the work done that I didn't get done while I was travelling. Hopefully no more trips between now and when we leave for Barcelona, though there is one short trip that may come up next week.

So for those of us who are metrically challenged, what does this mean?

Here are some metric conversion sites:
Inches to Centimeters:
Centimeters to Inches:
Feet to Meters
Meters to Feet
Miles to Kilometers
Kilometers to Miles
Fahrenheit to Celsius
Celsius to Fahrenheit

 

[su_kraft]

Okay, it's official.....I have to check two bags. Darn it, anyway, I did not want to do that. But three weeks with formal wear, costumes, and lots of fun stuff, there is just no way it will fit in. I thought I had it all packed and looked up and saw my formal wear hanging up. Then I realized I was missing a skirt, unpacked my bag and it's not there! There are not too many places to look on the boat, where is it? I even went outside to see if it was floating in the water. hahaha Like it would still be by the boat if I had dropped it six hours ago!
I have packed for a month before in a carry on, why is this so hard??????

So I have a question - please. You can only check two bags with DCL when you arrive at the ship - and have a carry on. Can your carry on be a rolling bag (14x9x22) or does it have to be like a large tote? I realize I have to keep it with me for several hours but does it matter the size? What are you all doing that have the FE gifts and the like? Are you just not bringing many other clothes. Now that's a thought....have all your costumes, formal wear and fun stuff and just one outfit for the rest of the days!!!!!

Thanks for the input Gotta go to bed....gotta go to bed....quit stressing....quit stressing.....

Disney doesn't care how many bags you bring - they just send 2 tags ahead of time. At the port you can get more! The porters have them, you just fill in your name and cabin number.

The bag you carry onto the ship has to fit through a scanner - same size as at the airport. No limit to how many you carry on, but it you are boarding prior to 1:30 you have to lug them around, so...

Last year I gave up virtually everything at the port and only carried my laptop bag and a backpack. Hope to turn it all over except a tote with swim suits, sun screen and stuff so we can sit back and enjoy the day without carrying luggage with us!

 

[birkner]

Glad you are ok Paula.

Talking about houses shaking we had a bit of that here last night.

The UPS plane that crashed in dubai last night went down about 800m from our house. It want straight over the top of our place about 5 seconds before impact.

we heard it but didn't see it - however many other families around us also saw it and saw the flash of the impact. What makes that even worse is we are a compound of airline staff and most of the kids who saw it have dads who are pilots so it has really unnerved them.

It was so lucky that it was a cargo plane so only two lives were lost and that it was a UPS plane with well trained pilots and well maintained equipment so they were able to maintain control long enough to get past our houses and crash into the desert. If they had gone down just five seconds earlier then it would of been a very different outcome.

The pilots were heros to be able to do that. Our thoughts are with their families. R.I.P.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those families who have lost a loved one. I agree that the pilots were heroes and should be honored. So many other lives might have been lost if they had not heroically given theirs to save others.

 

[birkner]

Yay, That's us, I am really looking forward to Virgin Gorda

Can you go barefoot through the water? We were planning on croc's and then barefoot through to the beach?

Several reviews of many from Trip Advisor:

While in the U.S. Virgin Islands we took a ferry over to Virgin Gorda to see The Baths. A van picks you up at the ferry and takes you to the beach. It is a little bit of a walk after that to get there. This is an incredibly beautiful and picture perfect beach with huge bolders to climb over and sail boats offshore. But it is a rather scary and dangerous place to swim and not recommended for children. The waves were so big it was very difficult to get out of the water once you were in. We explored some of the caves which was fun, but there were jellyfish warnings posted, so like anywhere else, you must be careful when you enter the water. It was a rather long ferry ride, but the day was beautiful and seeing The Baths was well worth the trip.

The Baths was our first stop on a BVI motor yacht tour. They were beautiful and interesting. A must see, but now that I've saw them though, I don't think I need to go back. It was neat how you can just crawl through these unusual rocks and wade in the water inside them. Older folks may have a difficult time maneuvering around inside as you have to climb and practically crawl through some spaces.

First things first - the Baths were absolutely BEAUTIFUL and one of the coolest places I have ever been in my life. The trip was well worth the crowds and the lines inside the grottoes - whether you're on an excursion (cruises) or not there will always be lines and many other people there. The beach wasn't as large as I had thought, and boats tend to come very close to the shoreline which made me nervous as a snorkeler. HOWEVER... Let's be very clear about something in regards to the Baths - and I say this not to be rude but to be very honest and truthful because on other sites I feel like reviewers have failed to do so. The Baths are NOT for people who are not active or mobile. My entire family is very athletic; there were certain spots where balance was key. You need to be able to crouch down low, climb the rocks, and swim if needed depending on the tides. A lot of older travelers (60+) had to turn around ad go back or rely on others to help them along. I witnessed a couple of people even get stuck in between rocks - at certain spots I even felt that my slender athletic build would not fit. For those who are unsure, there is a nature trail that can be hiked (or walked?), however that too requires an exertion of energy.

I say this because prior to traveling to the Baths my family and I had spent countless hours researching on websites, included Cruise Critic. A few boards mentioned the need to be active and mobile, but I don't think anyone wanted to come out and speak the truth. Do more research and try and find as many pictures as you can to get a fuller sense of knowledge.

I hope this helps, and I hope it doesn't deter anyone. They were truly beautiful!

 

[birkner]

We are sleeping in our living room tonight - we have setup the couches near the table for safety and are having a "sleep over" - dogs included. Its just simply too unnerving to be even thinking about going to bed. There is comfort in sitting up with a blanket instead.

We are having lots of after shocks and have had more than 20 today that have been over 4 on the richter scale. Its quite simply terrifying and we are all a bunch of nervous wrecks.

The after shocks are varying from gentle swaying which you can barely feel to jolts like someone has just picked up the house and dropped it - its surprisingly noisy too and sometimes you just hear or feel tremors.

I hope today will bring less aftershocks and the beginning of a return to a more normal life!!

 

[birkner]

I have trawled the web to find free wifi information at our ports and hope this is useful. Not sure of its accuracy though!

Two weeks to go! Woohoo!

I am signed up for Boingo which I will cancel when I return. There are plenty of places for us to sign on in Germany and Spain where I am sure I will be sending the most emails.

Thanks for the free wifi spots elsewhere as I am sure we will be using them. However, I am sure DH will be using the DCL online internet (paid for by his company) as well!!

 

[birkner]

I'm with you, Noel. I have put off packing all but the most wrinkle-resistant clothing so that they don't get too wrinkled but I'm going to pack everything this weekend anyway. I finally realized that I can send things out to be ironed so getting things packed and off my worry screen is more important than a few wrinkles.

You have just repeated exactly how I feel!!

I have also scheduled a mani/pedi for the day before I leave. My daughter gave me some SpaFinders coupons for Mother's Day and I'm not really a spa kind of gal so hadn't used them yet. I generally get my pedicures from the local Salon really cheap but I'm going to feel very pampered this time at the spa at Disney's Dolphin Hotel thanks to my daughter. I never get manicures so this will be a treat also. Do I understand that your husband is going also. I could never get my husband to do that even though I've told him that I see the occasional man in the salon getting the pedicure.

See you on board and we can compare toes.

Rene

When we stayed at the Swan in 2007 for Xmas, I spent quite a few hours in the Spa there. I am sure the Dolphin spa is just as nice. My DH John is not one to do the mani/pedi thing as a normal routine but for and on vacations, he will often do the gentlemen's mani/pedi. For a gentlemen's pedicure, the only difference is the man may choose clear polish or no polish at all. He will have nice feet for the cruise!!

I bring all my own products even to my own manicurist as I am very particular about anything that goes on my hands or feet. I do a French or what is sometimes called a Pink and White on my hands and color on my toes. Sometimes in the summer I do the same French style on my toes as well. During the holidays, I will often add decorations.

 

[birkner]

Sue, no worries. We can help by storming guest services and sign up too! I think DCL will come through in the end. They are just taking their time. They don't know we have a Navigator to finish! We're a boatload of type A personalities! Oh My!!!

I am with you!! Shall we schedule the "storm" in the Navigator?

What I do is insert the image into a Word document. That way I can resize it to one sheet of paper. Then I print. Word makes it easy for me to flip the image if I am using light transfer paper.

In order to save time and grief, I just downloaded the images to Vistaprint who didn't seem to have a problem printing Disney images. Now I have all possible permutations of tee shirts to wear on board.


It has been my experience that I can lug anything I can carry onto the ship. I've carried my carry-on, two grocery bags, purse, Sailor Mickey, wine... we arrived at the Wonder after Mousefest. I shudder to think how much luggage we had for those 4 nights on the ship that time. In all fairness we had 7 days on land with matching tshirts eveyday.

You are a woman after my own heart. I not only have bags for bags, I have wine diapers. No rolling cooler this time but plenty of bags that can be carried on board. I can just imagine the Barcelona porters rolling their eyes when they see me coming. I am thinking I can find a rolling bag for all my goodies at the El Corte Ingles or Caprabo or one of the other grocery stores..

 

[paulcrsb]

Noooooooo! I can't keep up, Just joking, all you lurkers are running out of time to get to know us wonderful people!

I've been reading this thread for quite a while. I think I know what I'm dealing with here!

Paul

 

[paulcrsb]

lol, It great music they play by the pool

I like the music by the kids pool better!

Paul

 

[paulcrsb]

Sue, dont worry, I mean even if it doesnt come off, it not exactly your fault, dont stress or worry over it.... We can have our very own personal tastings
I would hate it if you spent time worrying and stressing over it.

I agree completely. Don't let it mess up your vacation!

Paul

 

[valbob89]

You are a woman after my own heart. I not only have bags for bags, I have wine diapers. No rolling cooler this time but plenty of bags that can be carried on board. I can just imagine the Barcelona porters rolling their eyes when they see me coming. I am thinking I can find a rolling bag for all my goodies at the El Corte Ingles or Caprabo or one of the other grocery stores..

I admit I bring to much luggage too. However, I ease my conscious by remembering one trip to Hawaii. We were staying at the Moana Surfrider and when we arrived at our room, a bellboy was trying to push two carts loaded with luggage to the room next to ours. There must have been 20 beautiful, perfectly matched cases. I asked how many people were staying in the room (concerned there was going to be a group of 10 next door to us) to which he answered 2. When he saw my surprise he offered, Japanese honeymooners, staying one week!! I saw the bride a number of times during our stay. She was dressed in St John and Channel suits, nylons and heels, even on the beach. So I never look as good as her but also never feel bad about my "overload" of suitcases. Val

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Hola Amigos!

Estamos en Barcelona! a long, tiring couple of days. On cell phone. Keyboards sucks so try to forgive autocorrect it's usually not nice to me.

FYI - it's hot out here. Forecast for Sunday? 86 degrees. Same till tues where we get a chance of thunderstorms. Last Friday Barcelona recorded it's highest temp on record ever. 39 celsius. Y'all do the conversion. Apt mgr told us that fact.

Anyway, reason for my post: for those sweating transportation problems. ITS SUPEREASY, I mean supereasy to grab a taxi to the port. Taxi signs are everywhere. Follow them down and hop a taxi if your coming in the day of. Approximate cost: $20-30 euros and extra for extra or big luggage.

Also, the Aerobus is very easy, again very easy to take. Costs 5.05 euros pp. Constant busses are coming. Dedicated last stop is Pl Catalunya and drops u off in main square or feet n front of El Cortes Ingles. Or if u r facing Pl Catalunya think of it as a clock. U r dropped off at 3 pm.

Also, FYI, the first stop on the Aerobus route is Pl Espanya, where the Magic Fountains are. You will know it by the big, red arched. At night u will proceed up thru the arches if walking or get dropped off and the big fountain 1/2 up the hill is the spot. Very pretty during the day

Ok fingers tiring. If u have any questions FB is easier to get onto. U can ask there

Oh yeah. We r safe, arrived safe and my lost baggage was awaiting us when we finally got here

Safe travels my friends.

 

[eeyorelvr10]

can someone print me off 2 copies of the navigator? I left mine at home along with a few other things.

I would be very appreciative.

 

[birkner]

I admit I bring to much luggage too. However, I ease my conscious by remembering one trip to Hawaii. We were staying at the Moana Surfrider and when we arrived at our room, a bellboy was trying to push two carts loaded with luggage to the room next to ours. There must have been 20 beautiful, perfectly matched cases. I asked how many people were staying in the room (concerned there was going to be a group of 10 next door to us) to which he answered 2. When he saw my surprise he offered, Japanese honeymooners, staying one week!! I saw the bride a number of times during our stay. She was dressed in St John and Channel suits, nylons and heels, even on the beach. So I never look as good as her but also never feel bad about my "overload" of suitcases. Val

I love your story!! John said to tell you our story about people with excess luggage. We were checking into the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando and the couple next to us had nearly as much luggage!! All were matching Louis Vuitton including golf bags. They were very loudly dressed in bright yellow matching outfits and wore tons of gold jewelry!! No Chanel or St John for those two!!

As an aside, I always wore St John in the 1980's until the prices became sky high.