The MAGIC is Back!!! ~ WBTA 2014 ~ Come & join the fun!

[wayneg]

Just booked, just DH & myself travelling - 1st trip in 21 years without the kids. DH's 50th birthday treat. This will be our 1st cruise so I'll be looking for lots of helpful tips please.

We booked after reading Wayneg's thread on the UK forum - I'm not a stalker honest Wayne Look forward to meeting you all

Great news.
I am sure you will love Disney cruising, only problem is its adictive, this will be our 7th.
Look forward to meeting you and your DH

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Just booked, just DH & myself travelling - 1st trip in 21 years without the kids. DH's 50th birthday treat. This will be our 1st cruise so I'll be looking for lots of helpful tips please.

New cruisers - Yippee!

Wow, first time no kids - a birthday? First cruise? Should be a fun adventure.

 

[ppartekim]

DH's 50th birthday treat.

It is my 50th birthday cruise too

Mine too....

Maybe we should have a half century party.... Talk the bartenders into a 50% off drinks for us new 50'ers...

 

[cornish pixie]

Just booked, just DH & myself travelling - 1st trip in 21 years without the kids. DH's 50th birthday treat. This will be our 1st cruise so I'll be looking for lots of helpful tips please.

We booked after reading Wayneg's thread on the UK forum - I'm not a stalker honest Wayne Look forward to meeting you all

Welcome on board you are going to have a blast were celebrating my Hubbies 50th as well we cruised a couple of years ago without the children on Disney and really loved it (love cruising with them don't get me wrong but different trip just the two of us ) Anyway enjoy the planning
Cornish pixie

 

[Shazzie B]

Welcome aboard .... look forward to meeting you It is my 50th birthday cruise too

I'll bring the Jelly, you bring the Ice Cream

 

[Pinky166]

Just booked, just DH & myself travelling - 1st trip in 21 years without the kids. DH's 50th birthday treat. This will be our 1st cruise so I'll be looking for lots of helpful tips please.

We booked after reading Wayneg's thread on the UK forum - I'm not a stalker honest Wayne Look forward to meeting you all

Mine too....

Maybe we should have a half century party.... Talk the bartenders into a 50% off drinks for us new 50'ers...

Please add us to the roster since we are officially booked. Karyn & Cristi are in Cabin 7570 so we are joining the deck 7 people. I think I've only ever been on deck 2 before and my previous three Disney cruises have all been on the Wonder so now I finally get to sail on the Magic with Sorcerer Mickey. Cristi has been on the Wonder once & the Magic once.

Now for a little more about us. I'm from New York. Never quite got the WDW bug until I finally went for the first time in 1995 at the age of 35, lucky for me it was before they made the castle that ugly pepto-bismol pink birthday cake thing which was how my mother saw it the first time I took her in 1996. It was on that trip in 1996 that I bit the bullet and made my first DVC purchase. I believe that was also the first year of the F & W festival which was nothing like it is these days I just remember seeing some of the food booths but I don't remember anything else about it back then. Then I started attending the Disneyana Conventions. Next it was the WDCC Art Classics Conventions beginning in 1999 which is where Cristi & I met and became friends. Cristi is from Plano, Texas. We've been travel buddies & roommates for numerous other WDW, DL & D23 events over the 14 years that we have known each other.

Greetings everyone!

We are excited to be joining the 2014 WBTA after having done the 2011 EBTA.

We have decided that it may be fun to come into Dublin, London, Paris, or Amsterdam a few days before we sail. We have enjoyed Barcelona before and want to add this extra destination to the trip.

We are US citizens. Anybody have reccomendations for how to schedule airfare and what to expect for US citizens flying from one European country to another?

Perhaps arrive to Barcelona the night of the 5th?
Or could we make it by taking an early flight to Barcelona the morning of the 6th?

Very excited to be back on the TA even if we are on Deck 1 (cheapest Disney vacation points)... for now. Hoping for another upgrade.

-TB

Hello everyone.
Some of you know me from UK trip planning, most of you have no idea who I am, hopefully we will all get to know each other.

Up until yesterday I had no intentions of booking another cruise, prices had gone beyond my limits, mainly due to us only being able to cruise in peak school holidays. Next year our Son doesn't start University until Oct so I thought I would look at Sept cruise options. I looked at 7 night cruises from Port Canaveral which looked OK but we have done both DCL Eastern & Western before (although not been on the Fantasy yet).
As I prefer the older ships to The Dream I decided to see where the Magic was sailing next Sept and found this cruise. Prices are exactly the same on this cruise as the 7 nts so looks a good deal. Unfortunately I never did an OB rebooking 2 years ago so have missed out on that but prices are still good.

Karen (DW) has to check with work tomorrow that she can have the dates then hopefully I will book tomorrow, a few days in Barcelona, 14 nights cruise & 7 nights in Orlando. Just hope she can get the dates off work now.

Hi Dissers!

Please could you add us to the roll-call?
Michala & Martin - 5020
John & Maria (my parents) - 6034

I thought I'd write a little bit about us, so you know who we are

I'm Michala and Martin is my boyfriend, we'll both be 27 when we cruise, we live just outside London and both work in offices in central London. We're Orlando addicts - I say Orlando, not WDW, because we enjoy USO and the whole Orlando experience just as much as we enjoy WDW. Martin has been on holiday to Orlando most years since he's been 11. My first time was just after our 21st birthdays with Martin's family and I was hooked; by the cruise rolls around I will have been 7 times (or possibly 8 - fingers crossed)!

As a kid I was always begging my mum and dad (Maria and John) to take me to Disney World, but for one reason or another, we never got to go. After all these years, I finally convinced them to venture over & they both loved it! So much so, that when we said we might be booking a DCL cruise, they jumped at the chance. They have cruised many times with other lines and we've been to WDW a lot, so combined I think we'll be an unstoppable force!

I'm super excited about boarding the Magic & crossing the transatlantic!

Welcome all. I have now updated the roll call on the first page. Some of you haven't given names or cabin numbers so if you want to post them I can update.

 

[Shazzie B]

Sharon & Gary, sorry don't know cabin number, how do I find it?

 

[cornish pixie]

Welcome aboard .... look forward to meeting you It is my 50th birthday cruise too

Official party central I like the idea of 50% off the bar bill

 

[Relaxin']

Decided to join in. DH(Rick) and myself (Patti). Room 2571

 

[babydiver]

FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE USA THINKING OF COMING OVER AND SEEING SEEING OTHER CITIES BEFORE FLYING INTO BARCELONA.
This was on yesterday news over here in England and I know some you were thinking of using EasyJet for internal European flights.

July 2013 – NEW EASYJET HAND LUGGAGE SIZES

In the battle between budget airlines, no stone is left unturned to find ways to cut costs. The latest shot in this war in the skies comes from EasyJet, which is to reduce the size of hand luggage with effect from Tuesday 2nd July 2013.

Baggage allowance cut by 37%
At present, EasyJet allows luggage to be taken into the aircraft cabin if it is below the maximum size of 56cm by 45cm by 25cm. This gives a total volume of 63 litres for a single onboard bag.

But from 2nd July, these dimensions will be slimmed down to 50cm by 40 cm by 20cm (including wheels, pockets and handles). This gives a total volume of 40 litres, which is a loss of 23 litres of luggage space. In effect, EasyJet has cut its allowance for hand luggage by more than a third (36.5%).

EasyJet's argument for this change is simple. By introducing this new 'cabin bag guarantee', it promises that passengers with qualifying bags can take them into the cabin. This will apply even on the busiest flights, when overhead locker space is limited. Under this guarantee, onboard bags will be placed in overhead lockers or under the seats in front.

You may still be able to take bags that meet the old limit onboard as hand luggage. However it's not guaranteed, and it may be checked into the hold if the flight is busy and there is little space. While this will not incur a charge, it does mean that you will have to queue to retrieve your bag from the baggage carousel on arrival.

As before, a handling charge of £25 applies for cabin bags exceeding the maximum size of 56cm by 45cm by 25cm, rising to £40 at the boarding gate.

Cabin baggage will be checked for size with a new baggage gauge at bag-drop desks and again at boarding gates. easyJet's definition of a cabin bag includes a bag, briefcase, suitcase, laptop case, handbag, bumbag, rucksack, carrier bag or wedding-dress carrier. Infants travelling on an adult's lap don't get a cabin-bag allowance

The airline explains its new rules regarding cabin baggage in more detail on its website.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

The baggage restrictions are making me appreciate more and more that for MOST of the time I can just drive to the port!

This trip is going to be a challenge, especially with wanting to add on Paris. The budget airlines are starting to make the regular airlines like Air France a better deal? But of course who knows what changes they'll make between now and then.

I'm figuring that I'll just have to add a much higher amount to budget for the Paris to Barca flight, and if it's lower - then great!

 

[karrit2000]

I think we are pretty much resigned to using one of the Air France Flights form Paris to Barcelona already based on the fares I was seeing when I looked. I can use some of my AMEX points to pay for that flight. The fares I've seen are a little under $100 US including baggage which doesn't seem too bad to me. When I saw how much the overnight train was I figured flying would be my preferred method to get from Paris to Barcelona.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Yes, I've been research all morning. I think Air France may be the way to go. Now it's just deciding whether I really need to buckle down and pack light, or just budget in that extra bag.

This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips for me, so I want to enjoy it. Right now if it came down to it, I'd rather cut out a day or two extra in San Juan, than to forgo the Paris part of the trip.

 

[Pappy]

Have a look at trains there appears to be a direct service from Disney Paris direct to Barcelona

 

[Dizneyholic]

Have a look at trains there appears to be a direct service from Disney Paris direct to Barcelona

Is there? That would be great! At work so can't research at the moment. However, I'm guessing it's pretty pricey.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

There is a train, but it is very expensive. Add to that it is a much longer time to get there.

 

[karrit2000]

The only train I could find was an overnight one that was around $270 US per person and a 12 hour trip. I'm thinking that $100 US for a less than 2 hour flight is the better way to go. Since I can't sleep on planes, trains or in moving vehicles I don't think the train would work at all for me.

 

[TexasMousEars]

Hi Karyn and the rest of y'all. I just registered so I'm now an official DisBoard member! I am SOOOO looking forward to this cruise. And for the others celebrating their 50th birthday - yup, I agree, I think we definitely should have a half-century (oh god, that just sounds awful) day for all of us!
Cristi

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

Hi Karyn and the rest of y'all. I just registered so I'm now an official DisBoard member! I am SOOOO looking forward to this cruise. And for the others celebrating their 50th birthday - yup, I agree, I think we definitely should have a half-century (oh god, that just sounds awful) day for all of us!
Cristi

Welcome!

 

[MRAven]

The only train I could find was an overnight one that was around $270 US per person and a 12 hour trip. I'm thinking that $100 US for a less than 2 hour flight is the better way to go. Since I can't sleep on planes, trains or in moving vehicles I don't think the train would work at all for me.

To do a propper comparison you will need Airfare + 1 hotel night vs train overnight trip.

A few glasses of wine can help you sleep.

I really like traveling by train, it's an adventure by it self. Once we went from Orlando to NYC and it was an unique experience (12 hours) and for our Med Cruise we went from Madrid to Barcelona in the AVE high speed train (300 km/h) and it was also a great experience allthoug it was only for 2 1/2 hours I spent the whole trip in the Bar Wagon