The MAGIC is Back!!! - 6th Sept 2014 WBTA - Come & join the fun! - PART 2

[liesbeth1012]

Good morning everyone and welcome to all those new cruisers who are joining us!

We too booked this cruise as soon as it came out in Feb 2013 and have been ticking the months off. All fully paid with flights and hotels booked and like Debra we are waiting for the excursions.

Yesterday I found that in Santa Cruz, Tenerife the ships dock on a very long u shaped pier. If you are fortunate to be first you can walk just 1/2 mile to the town but if you are at the back of the queue then it's a long walk. Apparently so it says the Tenerife Port Authority have put on a free shuttle into town (the Plaza de Espana) where there are lots of shops and restaurants.

It warns that some cruise companies say this shuttle is just for people with disabilities but in fact, it is for everyone.

Once in Plaza de Espana there is a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour you can get for around £15 so we shall be doing that and then looking around the town afterwards before returning to the ship.

NOTE: one of the stops on the HoHo bus is the store El Corte Ingles and this is where we buy our wine for the cruises when in Barcelona so you will have chance to stock up on more should you be running low for our 5 days at sea!!!!!



http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/spain/santa-cruz-de-tenerife.htm

Thanks for sharing the info on Santa Cruz and the link. It is tempting to try and just keep it simple with the first ports and do the HOHO bus tour. I am in two minds though as I am very keen to go to Del Teide National Park. I expect Disney will be running Port Adventures there won't they? We were wondering if getting a rental car from the Port and driving to the Volcano might be more efficient in terms of both time and cost though. I don't know if any one else is considering anything like that for Tenerife. I just wish Disney released the Port Adventures much sooner so real planning could be done.

For Malaga we are hoping to be able to walk from port to see the Roman theatre, Alcazaba & Castle Gilbrafaro -- some on Cruise Critic make that seem doable -- there is a HOHO bus there too isn't there?

As for the Caribbean ports -- I have no idea at all what to do or how to organize things. We are much more historical things rather than beach people -- I will have to do lots more investigating.

Anyone else want to share any of their early plans for the ports -- I am such a newbie at these things. The time is so limited -- especially in Antigua -- and it must be very nerve racking thinking about getting back to the ship on time if you have not gone with an official tour!

This is us too and I must admit I am struggling to find things we may want to do. Not a big issue. My plan at the mo is to wait for the DCL excursions for more ideas before making any concrete plans. We have, however, been to St Maarten before and are quite tempted to hire a car when we're there this time just to do/see a few things we missed last time. St Kitts is the one I'm struggling most with though...

Has been looking to the ports also. I have some books from the library with all the ports, but I'm waiting for DCL what they offer. Because of the time I possible choose their excursions.

Thanks Sue/Richard for the link on Tenerife. I like the ho-ho bus, but see more of Tenerife is also a possibility.

We were on St Marten on the WBTA 2011 and did a excursion in the morning and did the town on our own in the afternoon. Now I would like to go to see the planes landing, but I haven't any idea how to come there. I don't drive, so hire a car isn't possible. Does anyone know how much a cab cost? or something like that?

On St Kitts I saw the St Kitts Scenic Railway, they offer shuttle from the cruiseship, then the train and you go back or go with a catamaran back to the ship. They said you can buy the tickets on the ship. I hope DCL offers this excursion, because I don't see a possiblity to buy tickets direct.

Antigua I don't know what to do there. Speical the limited time there, I prefer a DCL excursion.

And Malaga has a ho-ho bus too. I'm not sure as Sue said how crowed it is there and some things are not open on the day we are there. But you can see what DCL offers in Malaga. A few are not possible on our date, but most are.

And then we have a morning in San Juan. We fly back to Europe the same night. I saw the cruise terminal there is near the old town. I only have to figure out where I can leave my luggage then. Airport is not far away, so we can go there by taxi I think.

Just 6 month's to wait and plan. Looking forward to meet old and new friends.

 

[babydiver]

Has been looking to the ports also. I have some books from the library with all the ports, but I'm waiting for DCL what they offer. Because of the time I possible choose their excursions.

We were on St Marten on the WBTA 2011 and did a excursion in the morning and did the town on our own in the afternoon. Now I would like to go to see the planes landing, but I haven't any idea how to come there. I don't drive, so hire a car isn't possible. Does anyone know how much a cab cost? or something like that?


And then we have a morning in San Juan. We fly back to Europe the same night. I saw the cruise terminal there is near the old town. I only have to figure out where I can leave my luggage then. Airport is not far away, so we can go there by taxi I think.

Just 6 month's to wait and plan. Looking forward to meet old and new friends.

Hi Liesbeth

We too did the tour of St Maarten and then wandered around the town on our own. I think Richard may go diving this time if it's offered by Disney while I do another tour. We shall see.

I can answer some of your questions re: San Juan.

The taxi fare to the airport from around the cruise port or outside of the Sheraton Old San Jan (next to the cruise port) is $20 per cab.

Hope that helps.

 

[Claire4dpins]

This is us too and I must admit I am struggling to find things we may want to do. Not a big issue. My plan at the mo is to wait for the DCL excursions for more ideas before making any concrete plans. We have, however, been to St Maarten before and are quite tempted to hire a car when we're there this time just to do/see a few things we missed last time. St Kitts is the one I'm struggling most with though...

Hi
We have been to Tenerife before and we hired a car for a week. Quite easy to do and reasonable in hire terms. Roads with a good map are easy to navigate or maybe they will offer Sat Nav now with the car.
Worth going to Teide National Park (pronounced like Lady) if you have the time.
YES, there is a HoHo bus in Malaga too but didn't I read that it's some sort of Saints Day when we are there so I don't know if anything will be open or roads either with the crowds of people that throng for Saints Days. So it maybe worth doing an organised tour if you want to see lots of things.
We have been to St Maarten before too and this time will just do our own thing.
It's fun doing the research though but looking forward to seeing what Disney will offer.

Has been looking to the ports also. I have some books from the library with all the ports, but I'm waiting for DCL what they offer. Because of the time I possible choose their excursions.
Thanks Sue/Richard for the link on Tenerife. I like the ho-ho bus, but see more of Tenerife is also a possibility.
We were on St Marten on the WBTA 2011 and did a excursion in the morning and did the town on our own in the afternoon. Now I would like to go to see the planes landing, but I haven't any idea how to come there. I don't drive, so hire a car isn't possible. Does anyone know how much a cab cost? or something like that?
On St Kitts I saw the St Kitts Scenic Railway, they offer shuttle from the cruiseship, then the train and you go back or go with a catamaran back to the ship. They said you can buy the tickets on the ship. I hope DCL offers this excursion, because I don't see a possiblity to buy tickets direct.
Antigua I don't know what to do there. Speical the limited time there, I prefer a DCL excursion.
And Malaga has a ho-ho bus too. I'm not sure as Sue said how crowed it is there and some things are not open on the day we are there. But you can see what DCL offers in Malaga. A few are not possible on our date, but most are.
And then we have a morning in San Juan. We fly back to Europe the same night. I saw the cruise terminal there is near the old town. I only have to figure out where I can leave my luggage then. Airport is not far away, so we can go there by taxi I think.
Just 6 month's to wait and plan. Looking forward to meet old and new friends.

Good thing there is still 6 months to plan! It is interesting to read everyone's thoughts - thanks for sharing.

Hopefully the rental car idea might work for Tenerife - DH is less keen on the idea of driving in the Caribbean.

I hope the public holiday in Malaga won't make it too difficult to see things -- but I guess it might mean that there are other interesting local events going on?

I have just started looking at the Caribbean.

For St. Kitts Brimstone Hill Fortress is one of the places I think I would like to see -- also perhaps Romney Manor/Caribelle Batik. Thanks for the link to the railway liesbeth1012 - I had not seen that -- and the Rail, Fortress, and Great House tour looks like it might be good for us. Disney is not listed on their website though -- so I wonder if they will offer the train or not? We have a while to wait and see I guess.

In Antigua I would like to see Nelson's Historic dockyard -- but that looks a long way from the port and our time there is so limited -- I think I would be too nervous if it wasn't an official tour.

St. Maarten is the one I have no idea for -- perhaps it will be a beach -- because even though we are not beach people at all -- I don't think you can go to all these lovely islands and not feel the sand in your toes at least once or twice!

Very happy dreaming and planning though!

 

[TexasMousEars]

So, don't know if anyone else saw this and I realize this is for the earlier cruises, but I am hoping they also offer it for us on the WBTA.

Disney is printing up special Panama Canal and Transatlantic T-shirts that can be ordered within the Gifts and Amenities section once you are on the DCL site.

Relatively new to this whole thing, but going to try and post the link:

http://disneyparksmerchandise.com/events/transatlantic-panama-canal-tees/?instance_id=

Cristi

 

[MagicMe]

So, don't know if anyone else saw this and I realize this is for the earlier cruises, but I am hoping they also offer it for us on the WBTA.

Disney is printing up special Panama Canal and Transatlantic T-shirts that can be ordered within the Gifts and Amenities section once you are on the DCL site.

Relatively new to this whole thing, but going to try and post the link:

http://disneyparksmerchandise.com/events/transatlantic-panama-canal-tees/?instance_id=

Cristi

Actually if you select the gifts and amenities and change your sail port to Barcelona, they show the same "T" for the WBTA.

 

[TexasMousEars]

Actually if you select the gifts and amenities and change your sail port to Barcelona, they show the same "T" for the WBTA.

Well, duh on my part! Thanks for pointing that out. I got so excited over a t-shirt, that I didn't even bother to see if I could already pull it up for our cruise. Sheesh!

Cristi

 

[MagicMe]

Well, duh on my part! Thanks for pointing that out. I got so excited over a t-shirt, that I didn't even bother to see if I could already pull it up for our cruise. Sheesh!

Cristi

I only knew because a fellow cruiser posted it on FB!!!

 

[camptraveler]

Just wondering, we are traveling with my in-laws and they are staying in a separate cabin from us. In purchasing the picture package do we each have to purchase our own or can we link everything so as a group we buy the pictures? I am just thinking, as a group then we can divide the expense and share the pictures.

 

[Gilland18]

Just wondering, we are traveling with my in-laws and they are staying in a separate cabin from us. In purchasing the picture package do we each have to purchase our own or can we link everything so as a group we buy the pictures? I am just thinking, as a group then we can divide the expense and share the pictures.

I think that will work if you are buying the actual photos. It doesn't work if you want the CD.

 

[MandyGirl]

On previous transatlantic crossings we had several DIS members share designs unique to our cruise - and ordered from places that would print them for about $10 each. Or print on iron on transfers at home into your own tshirt. Great for personalizing for your family

 

[hawii90]

I received the following information from DCL on 3/12/14. For the WBTA the formal nights will be 9/7 & 9/13. The one and only semi-formal night will be 9/18.

 

[ShellB8585]

I received the following information from DCL on 3/12/14. For the WBTA the formal nights will be 9/7 & 9/13. The one and only semi-formal night will be 9/18.

Thanks for the info

 

[MagicMe]

I received the following information from DCL on 3/12/14. For the WBTA the formal nights will be 9/7 & 9/13. The one and only semi-formal night will be 9/18.

Interesting - the first formal night is our first sea day and the second is ou second sea day on the 5 day crossing. Semi-formal night is St.Maartens? Leaves those people with early dinner less time to get back and ready.

 

[babydiver]

Interesting - the first formal night is our first sea day and the second is ou second sea day on the 5 day crossing. Semi-formal night is St.Maartens? Leaves those people with early dinner less time to get back and ready.

I was looking back on my itinerary for the WBTA 2011 and the formal and semi formal nights are in the same rotation as what is being quoted here
So if this is true our itinerary should read like this:-

7th Sept - Formal Night. First at sea day
11th Sept - Villains Night. Colour theme black and purple. Port Tenerife
13th Sept - Formal Night is 2nd sea day of 5 night crossing
17th Sept - Pirate Night. Port St Johns, Antigua
18th Sept - Semi Formal Night. Port St Maartens.

This is NOT FACT but only what I have surmised from reading the last two posts and looking at the 2011 itinerary we did.

 

[Ginamarie]

Hi everyone! I was wondering why I hadn't been getting Dis updates from the cruise group, and it's because we started this new thread!

For Roll Call: We removed Marie from the trip and added Robert into her place


After traveling with my grandmother last summer, we realized this would be too much for her to handle, but my sister and her fiance will be joining us instead, so that's exciting. Grandma will be happy at home, so we don't have to feel badly about it either.

All of our flights are booked. Of course after I booked them, I read horror stories about LOT airlines, but what's done is done. We're scheduled to fly into Barcelona a day early anyway, so if we get delayed a little, we won't risk missing the boat. We bought the DCL transfers in Barcelona, but are actually staying at the Barcelona Princess, which is a 3 minute walk from one of the DCL sponsored hotels and a whole lot cheaper! DCL transfers are totally worth the extra cost for us because we're a large group with young kids and a lot of luggage. The stress of having to break up into several taxis is just too much. We're not staying in PR post cruise (as much as I would love to, we have to get back to work/school), and I already booked our flight back to NY for the middle of disembarkation day. So, all the booking I can do for now is done, and the flights and hotel are already paid for and are no longer a concern.

I'm hoping that they will release excursion information soon! I know it's still a little early, but the planner in me is itching beyond belief. I'm also REALLY curious about what they're going to release for 2015. I'd be very interested in a Norway cruise or Hawaii, but am also very suspicious that they're going to price me out based upon the rates they're charging for 2014 itineraries. Plus, we're already locked into WDW in Sept 2015 for DSis' wedding, so my travel budget is already impacted for next year. The (probably smarter) alternative is to stick with WDW for 2015 and try to sail DCL in 2016 again, but we'll be waiting FOREVER until those itineraries come out!

/overdramatic language

 

[DanieD0909]

Ginamarie - my friend is from Poland and I was considering LOT as well but it would have meant taking a separate airline from NC to Chicago. I ended up finding a deal on Air Canada so we didn't end up going that route. But she said she flies LOT all the time when she visits her family and has never had a horror story so
Hopefully it will all work out! Good luck!

 

[MandyGirl]

I was looking back on my itinerary for the WBTA 2011 and the formal and semi formal nights are in the same rotation as what is being quoted here
So if this is true our itinerary should read like this:-

7th Sept - Formal Night. First at sea day
11th Sept - Villains Night. Colour theme black and purple. Port Tenerife
13th Sept - Formal Night is 2nd sea day of 5 night crossing
17th Sept - Pirate Night. Port St Johns, Antigua
18th Sept - Semi Formal Night. Port St Maartens.

This is NOT FACT but only what I have surmised from reading the last two posts and looking at the 2011 itinerary we did.

It will be interesting to see if they do a Villains Night ball in the atrium. On EBTA last summer, they did not. Villains show yes, but not characters out later for a Villains Ball.

They also did not do the Fab 5 (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse tshirt night we did as DIS) until we started asking for it. Then they did it the morning of a port day when everyone was heading out on shore excursions, and it had to be shut down early due to security of disembarking deck 3. We arrived in line well before posted time (I had been asking for it!!) but they had to shut down early, so we missed out completely.

 

[camptraveler]

So when they have the formal and semi formal nights and you choose not to dress up on one of the nights, does that mean you just eat dinner at one of the little snack areas?

how formal is formal and what is the difference between semi and formal. I was just thinking of like a black cocktail type dress for both. Is that ok?
:

 

[pharmjenn]

So when they have the formal and semi formal nights and you choose not to dress up on one of the nights, does that mean you just eat dinner at one of the little snack areas?

how formal is formal and what is the difference between semi and formal. I was just thinking of like a black cocktail type dress for both. Is that ok?
:

Cocktail dress will be fine. Some people go all out formal Oscar-night wear, and others wear dockers. It is up to you.
And you can still eat in your main dining room, even if not in formal wear.

 

[camptraveler]

Ok thank you so much