September 12, 2009 ~ Last Call for Tortola! Thread 3

[CustardTart]

Hello everyone!

Sorry I've been AWOL lately but I'm busy, busy, busy sourcing products for our upcoming building project which is due to commence at the start of September!!! I'm hoping the demolishing will occur whilst we're sailing the seas together but, once we return, I've got to hit the ground running as that also coincides with the start of my 2nd year of Uni...

Apologies for not keeping up with thread - I will try and ketchup over the next couple of days...

 

[granmaz]

Hi Karen. I empathise with the building work coming at a bad time!! We are having a small extension done at the moment and it is due to cause big problems just pre holiday for us. I'm beginning to get stressed and

We have a small bungalow with 2 bedrooms at one end. We are having an en suite built on the side of our bedroom, extending down to a walk in wardrobe/cupboard on the other bedroom. They will be knocking through doors on both rooms causing chaos, then the plumber is coming in, going through our bedroom which will be in disarray, in the few days before we travel. I'm beginning to panic about getting all the holiday things together with no privacy, dirt and no room to put anything. I stress normally getting ready for a big holiday, sad I know, but.....!!

Aaargh.

I know it will be worth it in the end though so i am trying to stay calm.

 

[CustardTart]

Hi Karen. I empathise with the building work coming at a bad time!! We are having a small extension done at the moment and it is due to cause big problems just pre holiday for us. I'm beginning to get stressed and

We have a small bungalow with 2 bedrooms at one end. We are having an en suite built on the side of our bedroom, extending down to a walk in wardrobe/cupboard on the other bedroom. They will be knocking through doors on both rooms causing chaos, then the plumber is coming in, going through our bedroom which will be in disarray, in the few days before we travel. I'm beginning to panic about getting all the holiday things together with no privacy, dirt and no room to put anything. I stress normally getting ready for a big holiday, sad I know, but.....!!

I feel your pain, Marilyn, I really do!!!

We've put off doing this work for years as the stress of builders just seemed to much to handle BUT my lovely daughter (thanks, Sophie - I think!!! ) has pushed the project back on track by having her house renovated earlier in the year. Seeing how fab her place looks has prompted me to bite the bullet and use her builders...

We're having the existing single-storey garage plus utility demolished and a two-storey extension built to provide an new garage, utility and dining room downstairs with an ensuite to our bedroom and enlarged 4th bedroom upstairs. That's just for starters. After that has been completed, the builders are refurbishing the rest of the house - new bathroom, new cloaks, new ceilings throughout, total re-wiring (that hasn't been touched since the house was built in 1935), re-plumbing... It goes on and on... I haven't even considered the exterior which needs an overhaul too... I must be completely, 100%, certifiably insane!!!

 

[wdwgoose]

We have been having the same weather as you. Lots of trees down in the area from severe afternoon storms.

What can possibly be more important than door signs?

Donna

this weather has been strange this year

looks like HAY cutting for in the morning

DOOR SIGNS !!!!!!!!!!! YEAP !!!!!!

right there with the SHOES !!!!!!!!!!


OOOOOOPS for got the UNDIES !!!!!!!!!!

 

[granmaz]

I feel your pain, Marilyn, I really do!!!

We've put off doing this work for years as the stress of builders just seemed to much to handle BUT my lovely daughter (thanks, Sophie - I think!!! ) has pushed the project back on track by having her house renovated earlier in the year. Seeing how fab her place looks has prompted me to bite the bullet and use her builders...

We're having the existing single-storey garage plus utility demolished and a two-storey extension built to provide an new garage, utility and dining room downstairs with an ensuite to our bedroom and enlarged 4th bedroom upstairs. That's just for starters. After that has been completed, the builders are refurbishing the rest of the house - new bathroom, new cloaks, new ceilings throughout, total re-wiring (that hasn't been touched since the house was built in 1935), re-plumbing... It goes on and on... I haven't even considered the exterior which needs an overhaul too... I must be completely, 100%, certifiably insane!!!

Oh, you are totally insane!! I wouldn't be able to cope with that at all.

However, sometime next year I guess you will have an amazing house!!!

 

[1Grumpy John]

Hey John! How are you? Are you up for knocking back some drinks with me on Shots Around the Ship?

You know I would not miss it

Or in case we want to purchase one at the port. (Peg, there's more to the story today...call me.)





OH! I thought you did that a week ago. Sorry, I would have nagged you, don't you know.

Hi John, good to see you here....can't wait to give you all hugs!

I am looking forward to it, and really hope we get a chance to just sit and talk also

 

[iankh]

Emergency Contacts.

I'm not sure if other people are in the same situation as we are. We have two dogs and I have a friend moving in for 2-weeks to take care of them. Also there is the situation that we have a 2-flat and there could be a crisis with the house when we are away.

I've asked our upstairs neighbors/tenants if they can just deal with any house crisis, as my friend is just there to take care of the dogs, though there could be a crisis with them as well.

Contacting us while we are in WDW the week before is easy, we'll have our cell phones.

What I'm worrying about is what to do while we are on the ship. I suppose I have to contact AT&T and have international turned on, but I have heard that it can get very expensive if you receive an SMS or a wrong number.

I know that I will have to turn off email on our iPhones and turn off any sort of web access, which will inadvertently connect to the network.

Does anyone have any recommendations? What are other folks doing for emergency contacts back home?

 

[MickeyOCD]

Emergency Contacts.

What I'm worrying about is what to do while we are on the ship. I suppose I have to contact AT&T and have international turned on, but I have heard that it can get very expensive if you receive an SMS or a wrong number.

I know that I will have to turn off email on our iPhones and turn off any sort of web access, which will inadvertently connect to the network.

Does anyone have any recommendations? What are other folks doing for emergency contacts back home?

I would like to know this as well. Ian, I have an Iphone as well, what all do I need to turn off while on the ship? And do you know how expensive it is for internTional calls? Thanks

 

[jship210]

Emergency Contacts.

I'm not sure if other people are in the same situation as we are. We have two dogs and I have a friend moving in for 2-weeks to take care of them. Also there is the situation that we have a 2-flat and there could be a crisis with the house when we are away.

I've asked our upstairs neighbors/tenants if they can just deal with any house crisis, as my friend is just there to take care of the dogs, though there could be a crisis with them as well.

Contacting us while we are in WDW the week before is easy, we'll have our cell phones.

What I'm worrying about is what to do while we are on the ship. I suppose I have to contact AT&T and have international turned on, but I have heard that it can get very expensive if you receive an SMS or a wrong number.

I know that I will have to turn off email on our iPhones and turn off any sort of web access, which will inadvertently connect to the network.

Does anyone have any recommendations? What are other folks doing for emergency contacts back home?

How about creating a gmail account just for this cruise. You can check e-mail from the ship on a daily basis. Just give your g-mail address to those people. It's Free! Have a list of your plumbers, electricians ect.. so you can give the renters the numbers. No worries...it's vacation, all those issues will still be there when you get back.

 

[KellyMB]

Hi Kelly,
There was a time when I was diagnosed with a brain tumor after a MRI. After calming down (and it took a while), I talked to my dr who repeated the MRI with contrast. Turned out it was just a area of congested blood vessels that appeared like a tumor. I don' t know the details of your MRI , but just keep in mind that a lot of brain tumors are actually benign. Prayers and good wishes for you and your Dad. Vicki

Thanks Vicki! The Neurosurgeon thinks that mine is a meningioma, which are typically benign. It showed up with clear margins under contrast which is another good indication that it is benign. Meningiomas do grow though. They are more concerned that it will eventually grow and block my CSF (Spinal Fluid) since mine is located in my right ventricle (where the spinal fluid flows in the brain) so right now we are just praying that it does not grow.

Thank you all for your well wishes. It is kinda funny, the first thing that I said when I found out about the tumor was that I was NOT cancelling the cruise! The doctors would just have to work around it. Luckily for me this is not life threatening, and not even uncomfortable (besides the stress) so it will not impact the cruise.

Unfortunately my Dad has trouble walking... but he has this at home as well. Since he is not a big excursion guy, and plans on spending a lot of time on his veranda relaxing with his Kindle he will be ok.

 

[iankh]

I would like to know this as well. Ian, I have an Iphone as well, what all do I need to turn off while on the ship? And do you know how expensive it is for internTional calls? Thanks

I think the rates vary by country, but the first step is having international access added to your account. I think it's about $20, but you can call AT&T after the cruise and have it removed.

To disable email, you have to go to Settings and then go to Mail, Contacts and Calendar.

Then tap on each account (I have 8 email accounts) and at the top of the screen for the email account, you will see "Account" and an On/Off switch. You're going to want to switch each of your accounts to "Off" which will prevent it from getting mail, and thereby accidentally run up charges.

Another item to disable before getting on the cruise is Location Services, which is basically the iPhone's GPS feature and used with Google Maps and Geotagging photos. Location services is in constant communication with networks, which is how it devines and triangulates geographic location.

To switch off Location Services, go to Settings, General. You will see "Location Services" you will want to switch this to off, before you get on the ship.

The most important thing to turn off, is Data Roaming. This should already be switched to "Off" but check to make sure. Having it switched to Off makes sure that for data (email, web browsing) there is no roaming when not in the US.

Go to Settings, General, and tap on Network. You will see Data Roaming. Make sure this is off.

Now you may wonder why not just do this and not bother with all the other stuff. Well, we will be on the Magic, which has cell service throughout the ship. At times we will be in the US and at times not. I think it's better to be safe than sorry, and accidentally have things like email connecting and therefore racking up charges.

Regarding Safari, you will just have avoid using it, as well as any applications you might have on your iPhone that might connect to the network like Facebook , Google App, iTunes Store etc.

Still wondering how people are dealing with emergency contact while away and at sea.

 

[iankh]

How about creating a gmail account just for this cruise. You can check e-mail from the ship on a daily basis. Just give your g-mail address to those people. It's Free! Have a list of your plumbers, electricians ect.. so you can give the renters the numbers. No worries...it's vacation, all those issues will still be there when you get back.

Great idea, but I was not planning on buying their web access package while on board.

Though now that you have said that, how does the package work while on board?

 

[mishoe01]

I've sailed the last 2 times w/ my cell phone on (it's my time piece).

It only rang 1 time but I didn't answer.....I figure if I see my sister's nbr I'll answer - otherwise I"M ON VACATION!!

There is a number to the cruise ship as well that you can give out in case someone needs to contact you....not cheap (I think like $10/minute) but if it is an emergency who really cares about the cost, right?

 

[KayR]

E

Does anyone have any recommendations? What are other folks doing for emergency contacts back home?

Great idea, but I was not planning on buying their web access package while on board.

Though now that you have said that, how does the package work while on board?

We have to have web access for our VR, so we budget on the maximum email plan just to keep up to date on emails. I can't think of anything that cannot wait for us until we return. Our VRs have a local property manager who can handle a true emergency or even the little OMG emergencies. Our neighbors are great and will handle anything at home.

There is ship to shore phone service, although its almost $9 per minute - but that would have to be something real big for them to phone us on that.

AT&T cellular at sea is, I believe, around $2.75 per minute - but we keep our cell phones off on the boat.

The onboard internet: you basically get an account when you first log on and then select your plan - the more minutes you choose, the lower your cost per minute is. I think the cheapest is $0.75 per minute (and apparently skype does not work on the ship for some reason otherwise that would be the cheapest way to phone!) There is wi-fi in the room. In Jan 08, the internet was not speedy, but it did the trick. I think we used all the minutes in our plan and then some.

-Kay

 

[EllaEnchanted]

I've sailed the last 2 times w/ my cell phone on (it's my time piece).

It only rang 1 time but I didn't answer.....I figure if I see my sister's nbr I'll answer - otherwise I"M ON VACATION!!

There is a number to the cruise ship as well that you can give out in case someone needs to contact you....not cheap (I think like $10/minute) but if it is an emergency who really cares about the cost, right?

For emergency purposes we leave the ship phone number: 1-888-DC-AT-SEA or 1-888-322-8732. For daily communication we use email.

We have purchased on line access aboard the ship twice. We're not doing it this time. We're going to use the internet cafe instead. Purchasing internet access is very expensive and not dependable. It kept knocking me off and was extremely slow. I burned up more time accessing then I actually did engaging. I have also used the internet cafe onboard and found it much more cost effective and reliable.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Just to keep up with the current conversations and to add my 2 cents.....I don't need to purchase new undies. I found a package of brand new ones that were too small 3 months ago and fit just fine now. I lost a total of 30 pounds so far on Weight Watchers. I started doing WW in May.

I recently ordered new bras online. They fit just fine. I'm ready to go.

I know guys, TMI....that's what makes it more fun to discuss. ahaha.

 

[rotary2808]

I think the rates vary by country, but the first step is having international access added to your account. I think it's about $20, but you can call AT&T after the cruise and have it removed.

To disable email, you have to go to Settings and then go to Mail, Contacts and Calendar.

Then tap on each account (I have 8 email accounts) and at the top of the screen for the email account, you will see "Account" and an On/Off switch. You're going to want to switch each of your accounts to "Off" which will prevent it from getting mail, and thereby accidentally run up charges.

Another item to disable before getting on the cruise is Location Services, which is basically the iPhone's GPS feature and used with Google Maps and Geotagging photos. Location services is in constant communication with networks, which is how it devines and triangulates geographic location.

To switch off Location Services, go to Settings, General. You will see "Location Services" you will want to switch this to off, before you get on the ship.

The most important thing to turn off, is Data Roaming. This should already be switched to "Off" but check to make sure. Having it switched to Off makes sure that for data (email, web browsing) there is no roaming when not in the US.

Go to Settings, General, and tap on Network. You will see Data Roaming. Make sure this is off.

Now you may wonder why not just do this and not bother with all the other stuff. Well, we will be on the Magic, which has cell service throughout the ship. At times we will be in the US and at times not. I think it's better to be safe than sorry, and accidentally have things like email connecting and therefore racking up charges.

Regarding Safari, you will just have avoid using it, as well as any applications you might have on your iPhone that might connect to the network like Facebook , Google App, iTunes Store etc.

Still wondering how people are dealing with emergency contact while away and at sea.

I can't believe AT&T charges to turn on international calling. We have T-Mobile and all you have to do is call for each line and tell them you want the international calling feature turned on, no charge to have it turned on.

 

[iankh]

We have to have web access for our VR, so we budget on the maximum email plan just to keep up to date on emails. I can't think of anything that cannot wait for us until we return. Our VRs have a local property manager who can handle a true emergency or even the little OMG emergencies. Our neighbors are great and will handle anything at home.

There is ship to shore phone service, although its almost $9 per minute - but that would have to be something real big for them to phone us on that.

AT&T cellular at sea is, I believe, around $2.75 per minute - but we keep our cell phones off on the boat.

The onboard internet: you basically get an account when you first log on and then select your plan - the more minutes you choose, the lower your cost per minute is. I think the cheapest is $0.75 per minute (and apparently skype does not work on the ship for some reason otherwise that would be the cheapest way to phone!) There is wi-fi in the room. In Jan 08, the internet was not speedy, but it did the trick. I think we used all the minutes in our plan and then some.

-Kay

What's a VR? Victorian Runabout?

With the web access on board, a whole family can use it, right? Is it a joint account that you get and then anyone in your family can mosey over and log in?

I guess what is going on in the machinations of my mind, is could a group of people, let's call them a "family" use one account and pool their resources? Thereby making access for the week cheaper for all?

I'm going to be phoning AT&T this afternoon. The $2.75 is not bad if it's not an emergency. I suppose the good thing for me is that nobody calls me.

That didn't come out sounding right. Nobody has my cell phone number, except for friends who are also on this cruise, who used it for keeping in touch at DL. I basically only get wrong numbers.

I'll know more after I talk to AT&T later.

 

[sssteele]

Just to keep up with the current conversations and to add my 2 cents.....I don't need to purchase new undies. I found a package of brand new ones that were too small 3 months ago and fit just fine now. I lost a total of 30 pounds so far on Weight Watchers. I started doing WW in May.

I recently ordered new bras online. They fit just fine. I'm ready to go.

I know guys, TMI....that's what makes it more fun to discuss. ahaha.

Congrats on the find and the great weight loss.

You all may know that TMI means something completely different to our local residents. Something we still think about frequently.

Thanks for posting the photos from Sunday. They are super and it was wonderful getting together. So anxious to meet the rest of this little community.

Finally ordered snorkel gear from LLBean. Purchased some a while back, but it was too small and when I exchanged for a larger size, it was too large. Fits DH perfectly, so he is set.

Joanie

 

[iankh]

From the Mouse's Mouth

Here is info on Internet and Cell access on direct from the big wet cheese himself:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships-activities/ships/services/internet-cellular-services/

And I was wrong. I swear I thought there was an all you can eat plan.