Sept 18 2010 WB TransAtlantic Pirates/Capt Jacks Re-Repositioning Repossession Cruise

[AlexandNessa]

So am I reading right that the EB TA cruise was a bit more rocky than the WB?

Brooklyn, those are great pics! I'll bet the kids had fun.

I am guessing there will be a lot more adults than kiddos on this trip. I wonder what it'll be like having the adult pool more crowded than the family pool?

 

[Grandma x3]

Hi,
I too was on the WB last year - I traveled solo - but had lots of old and new friends to share the adventure. And the sea conditions were the total opposite of the EB - the ocean was smooth as glass - almost boringly smooth!!

 

[NHdisneylover]

My understanding was the westbound was smooth as glass. HOWEVER generally speaking the Atlantic SHOULD be smooth in the spring and pretty darn choppy in late August/early fall. SOoooooo it is really anyone's gues but the odds lean more to a choppy Westbound corssing than to a smooth one (hurricane season and all). Not trying to scare you off--the choppiness was FUN (just giving fair warning so you can come prepared).

 

[gismo1554]

The WB TA was pretty much static compared to the EB. There was very little movement and a lot more sun. The EB was completely rocky for the sea days but as said it added to the excitement.

Wish I could find one of the pics that someone on the cruise took of the hieght of the waves at that pool! It was fantasticly funny

Both were amasing though!

Personally I think the cruise staff made the cruise for me

 

[taysmom]

Does it sail near the bermuda triangle?

 

[taysmom]

Were there alot of kids on the last one since it was in august? I haven't been on a disney cruise yet with more than 400 kids. Some people say I've been very lucky.....not my daughter though..she's almost figured out I'm going on a disney cruise w/o her. I figured I'd wait until it's much closer to share the bad news for her!

 

[gismo1554]

Think it sails below the Bemuda Triangle

There weren't that many kids. I heard it was about 20% of the expected. Put it this way the kids club staff were in the adult pool every night from 9pm as they didn't have any work to do

 

[gismo1554]

For those of us charged too much deposit I received an email from Disney and they are refunding me the $600 extra I was charged so email them if you do want the extra back for now

 

[Cap'n LongEars]

Hi!
I am Feenie's DH.
Looking forward to cruising and getting to know everyone beforehand.
Can't wait!

 

[Brooklyn]

Okay , here we go .. The Cruise Logo are in Black as well .... I will post on the first Post as well .... Brooklyn if you can , could you post the different sizes and colors on the website ??? Thank you

I added these to the photobucket account!

 

[cruellababy]

I really am soo excited! I am feeling a bit guilty about leaving the kids @ home; but they will have just started school and 2 weeks is a lot of school to miss!
Erik- that was such a moving tribute to the EB you were on! I can't wait to read your trip report after we return! LOL and we are also from Rochester!


Can someone explain to me how I get the cool flag into my signature line? Thanks!

 

[Brooklyn]

I really am soo excited! I am feeling a bit guilty about leaving the kids @ home; but they will have just started school and 2 weeks is a lot of school to miss!
Erik- that was such a moving tribute to the EB you were on! I can't wait to read your trip report after we return! LOL and we are also from Rochester!


Can someone explain to me how I get the cool flag into my signature line? Thanks!

do you want the white one or the black one?

 

[cruellababy]

Thanks Brooklyn! I think the black one; please! Thanks again!

 

[acourtwdw]

This will be our first cruise to Europe, so please forgive me if my questions are silly.

1. What to wear on the port days? I don't want to dress in a way that screams "tourist". What is suggested?

2. When does DCL list the excursions on the site? I would love to do some research on what would interest us.

3. How formal is formal night? I've seen pictures of ball gowns and tuxes. Is that the norm? We haven't been on a cruise with a formal night in 6 years.

4. Taxi to port or DCL transport? I'm interested in staying at the AB Skipper hotel in Barcelona that night before so is a taxi doable or is it just a hassle?

5. Is it better to book your hotel with DCL or direct?

6. On the main page of the website, it list Portagul as stop, but on my reservation page, it's not there. What gives?

That is all for now, but I'm sure that I will have more.

Annette

 

[Brooklyn]

Thanks Brooklyn! I think the black one; please! Thanks again!

go to "user cp" then "edit signature"

copy and past this line in the box

before pasting please remove the ... after the first

remove the dots leaving no spaces and you will have the sign in your signature. Don't remove any other dots though!

 

[nordkin]

We will be joining you guys on this one. We are excited about being on the ship for fouteen days as well as returning to Barcelona for a few days pre-trip.

Donna and Joi

 

[CACruisin']

Myself and Laura....eeyorelvr10.....were on it!! I loved all the sea days...adding an hour almost every night....gotta love those 25 hour days!! Looking forward to cruising with alot of old friends again.

I'm really looking forward to the 25 hour days. On the EB we were constantly trying to cram 25 hours worth of stuff into 23 hours ! We were so sleep deprived by the time we arrived in Barcelona my kids fell asleep on the hop on hop off bus! It is one of my favorite pictures of the trip though .

FYI on the Disney Airfare....

Called last night to find out about adding the airfare.

Since we wanted to arrive in Barcelona on Thursday which is outside of the standard one day before time frame that they allow, I had to email the deviations department. (We were also not going to pay the $1200 to stay for 2 nights for 2 people in the only hotel that they had left!)

I spoke with a nice man this morning about the airfare. $965 pp plus $48.72 taxes Houston/BCN and MCO/Houston. Since we wanted to come in early outside the normal time frame we also have to pay a $50 non refundable deviation fee.

Here is the important part....

Cancellation for airfare--

no fee outside 150 days

inside 150 days-- fees start at 50% of the fare!!!!!

I thought I read before that there was a 90 day cancellation window with no fees. Maybe that applies if you book the hotel room with them???

--Kathy

Good to know. I'm going to book DCL now as a back up. The price is really pretty decent. It also gives me some piece of mind. If the flight is delayed it is up to Disney to get us on the ship!

Fav part was Barcelona , the History alone is incredible , then there is Gibraltar ...and the 6 days at sea were great , the water was like glass .. incredible

You all had the weather we were SUPPOSED to have!! We had purposely booked the May crossing since "I would never cross the Atlantic during Hurricane season." HA! Mother Nature showed me

Oh DH will be happy to hear that!
He was worried that it might be extra rocky because of being in open water.
He gets a bit green around the gills when he forgets to take his dramamine! He does fine w/o it when the sailing is smooth though.

I also get really motion sick (Let's get real - I get nauseous if I corner too fast in the parking lot ), but I have to say after the first night after Castaway Cay, I got used to it (That first night was pretty awful though). I think I took my seabands off for about 3 hours the entire two weeks (yes, I have lovely Formal pictures with those babies on!) I also took bonine daily. I also had ginger snap cookies that I would nibble occasionally and a six pack of ginger ale for the really bad times. I had ginger pills, but never ended up taking them. I would also try and eat a green apple, if I could find one (old morning sickness remedy!). I must say that after that trip, I am no longer concerned about rough seas! Hence why we are now crossing the Atlantic again in September - the heart of Hurricane season

We were not on the WB TA in 2007...we were on the EB.....but I'm sure it was equally amazing. Our favorite things on that trip (in no particular order) were:

1.) The consecutive days at sea. I know people get very excited about the ports but Jason and I love love LOVE getting up and knowing we have nothing to do but enjoy the amazing ship!
and of course, the 101 activities planned by DCL and our DIS friends
2.) We really enjoy the "special shows." Because the cruise is so long they have to put specail shows in the Walt Disney theater. Now we were NOT big fans of "Mickey Dreams"....but we did love "Art of the Story" and we got to see Jim Brickman perform, as well, and that was a real treat, too.
We were in the minority, but we liked Mickey Dreams. We are big Cirque fans and the kids got such a kick out of writing there "Wish" on a star. The stars later showed up with our towel animal and a chocolate star.
3.) The middle of the Atlantic Ocean---this may sound hokey....but there is something truly awe-inspiring about the beauty and magnitude of being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and knowing there is NO land anywhere nearby. It puts into perspective how truly small & insignificant we are on this great big amazing planet (cue "Circle of Life".... )
This is so true. Of course, I tried not to think about this too much - itty bitty ship in the great big ocean - no need to deliberately start hyperventilating!
and

4.) The friends we made. The thread we were on before that trip allowed us to "meet" so many amazing people and then having such a long trip together gave us a real opportunity to get to know and appreciate people we would never have otherwise met. We were able to forge lifelong relationships....and I can truly say that some of our friends from that trip, who are consequently on this trip, too, are among our closest friends now!!

Defnitely!

I'm not going to lie....and I think I posted this on Double Dip thread when another DIS friend asked about it....but on the EASTbound TA...the sailing was ANYTHING but smooth. (CACruisin', NHDisneylover, Brooklyn, Hoagie Pie, gismo, and anyone else from that trip can confirm!) It was fine in the Bahamas and once we got closer to the Med....but as we crossed the Atlantic we had very high waves and LOTS of motion. It just added to the excitement, though! (And made for some pretty unforgettable pictures of the pools on deck 10 being turned into wave pools!! )

So pack your dramamine or ginger or little dots for behind your ears or magnetic wristbands or whatever you need!!!

Somewhere I have the picture of the pool waves breaking up by Signals. Then the wave came back and drenched those of us standing on the stage for the Mickey 200 final . Yea, the pools were closed.

Our friends that where on that crossing showed us some pics of the "wave pools" and I am REALLY looking forward to that, it just looked like so much fun!

I just hope I don't get sick when we have to dine in Parrot Cay (The location for some reason always amplifies the slight affects the sea has on my stomach)

I can handle PC, I have trouble in Animator's though.

I want to echo everything Erik said about the Eastbound TA (inlcuding the lifelong friends part--the kids have even decided to claim Abby as their cousin so we "made family" on that cruise )

Brooklyn's photo of the wave pool was before it got so rough they fianlly closed all the pools! It was pretty darned exciting there for a while (and totally FUN--luckily DH was up on his ginger pills and did not get seasick). Formal nigth was teh first really rocky night and you should have seen all of us ladies staggering around in heels on a ROCKING ship Elegant we were not!

So true. DD was in heels for the first time. I'm not sure she has worn heels since, now that I think about it.

My understanding was the westbound was smooth as glass. HOWEVER generally speaking the Atlantic SHOULD be smooth in the spring and pretty darn choppy in late August/early fall. SOoooooo it is really anyone's gues but the odds lean more to a choppy Westbound corssing than to a smooth one (hurricane season and all). Not trying to scare you off--the choppiness was FUN (just giving fair warning so you can come prepared).

That was my understanding too. But yes, the rough seas were part of our wonderful, unforgettable experience.

The WB TA was pretty much static compared to the EB. There was very little movement and a lot more sun. The EB was completely rocky for the sea days but as said it added to the excitement.

Wish I could find one of the pics that someone on the cruise took of the hieght of the waves at that pool! It was fantasticly funny

Both were amasing though!

Personally I think the cruise staff made the cruise for me

That picture was mine. Debbie posted it for me, though since I've never figured out how to post pictures.

Does it sail near the bermuda triangle?

No, but we did see Bermuda on the TV navigational channel. It was our last bit of land before crossing over.

Were there alot of kids on the last one since it was in august? I haven't been on a disney cruise yet with more than 400 kids. Some people say I've been very lucky.....not my daughter though..she's almost figured out I'm going on a disney cruise w/o her. I figured I'd wait until it's much closer to share the bad news for her!

DD#1 & DD#2 are not making this trip with us. They are not happy! Oh well!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Does anyone have rooms 7005 and 7007 for the repo cruise?

That would be me!

 

[gismo1554]

This will be our first cruise to Europe, so please forgive me if my questions are silly.

1. What to wear on the port days? I don't want to dress in a way that screams "tourist". What is suggested?

Its probably going to be a nice temperature (colder than Caribbean but warmer than some northern US states) in Barcelona and Gibralter. Jeans and a tshirt should be find or like long skater shorts as these are popular. No Disney Tshirts or Disneyania. No bum bags! On Las Rambles in Barcelona do not carry purses or wallets keep it in your hands and your hands in your pockets! Its very big pick pocket area.

For things like the Santa Familiar (think that's what its called) Women need to wear trousers and I believe long sleeves (might not be the sleeves cant remember).

IF you can go to the Fountains at night as they are beautiful and the city is wonderful you just need to be careful

2. When does DCL list the excursions on the site? I would love to do some research on what would interest us.

OK for Barcelona look for previous lists of excursions. I will try and find my Barcelona excursion guide from the last cruise as Disney may offer some of these.

For Gibralter again I will look for my book but if you google the Transatlantic cruise navigators you should be able to find them.

For St Maarten you can look at the tours already on offer.

Madiera will be a little while before they come up as theyve never been there before.

Tortula Disney are going to next year so they should come up soon I think.

3. How formal is formal night? I've seen pictures of ball gowns and tuxes. Is that the norm? We haven't been on a cruise with a formal night in 6 years.

There were 2 formal nights on the last TA's. Most people had evening gowns and tuxes. Some had ball gowns but I would say it was an equal mix. Most men had tuxes though.

4. Taxi to port or DCL transport? I'm interested in staying at the AB Skipper hotel in Barcelona that night before so is a taxi doable or is it just a hassle?

Last time the DCL transfers included a city tour (around an hour or so) which was fun. Didn't use a taxi so not sure on that one.

5. Is it better to book your hotel with DCL or direct?{/QUOTE]

We booked seperately and I think it was cheaper but I guess with DCL it takes out some of the hassel.

6. On the main page of the website, it list Portagul as stop, but on my reservation page, it's not there. What gives?

It didn't yesterday but today it does! Think they forgot to add it. It's actually Madiera we go to which is an island off North Africa which Portugal owns.

 

[MickeyAddict]

Good morning!

I was wondering how many of you did the TA WB crossing in 2007?

It sounds like this cruise has a lot of repeaters (which I am always glad to hear!)

We were on the Westbound TA in 2007. Of the 26 cruises we have been on, that was the best by far! We wouldn't think of missing this one - I even talked my sister and her husband into joining us...