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

[MandyGirl]

If you are wanting to be added to the available spots for Palo group brunch, please send me a PM on DIS as indicated.

My head is spinning from catching up reading the thread, FB pages, website, etc. that I missed over the past five weeks while cruising and want to make sure I don't miss anyone. (Hence the one central way to sign up when I started collecting names back in February via PM for accurate record keeping --- been through that on other cruises of multiple medias hence why I am just funneling it through one site for this event since this is a traditional DIS event).

Thanks so much!!

Updated again -- we are back down to only one slot left in all 8 groups... those PMs have been rolling in!

The list:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=47526305&postcount=424

 

[MandyGirl]

WOW not been on Dis since page 40, not sure that I stand much chance of catching up but will try my best. Lots of new names to remember, so hello to all those old and new friends

So what did I miss, or is that a very big question !!!

I tried doing some catchup but my head started spinning. Relied on first page post instead Love her for keeping that updated there!

Glad to see you back on the boards, Margaret.

 

[MandyGirl]

All sounds absolutely amazing ... and what an incredible experience for your girls.

Thanks! The older one will remember it, as I am having her work on her writing skills in her journal each day now LOL. We are going day by day so she can draw her picture and write a few sentences (going into first grade this upcoming year and utilizing summer to stay on top of things!)

Your trip sounds amazing, and I love your attitude. Food/dining was also a major part of our trip and we loved every minute.

I also agree on the kids thing We did the Med with our 4YO and 1YO. People thought we were nuts....but it was

I love that you guys rented a car and did your own sightseeing in Iceland! How exciting!! My DH has been bugging me to "let him" rent a car in Europe. I don't care how adventurous we are, I just refuse He can hardly find our car in the parking lot at Home Depot so driving around in Europe... lost...with kids.... That's one adventure I don't feel like doing just yet.

That was the SAME thing everyone told us! Y'all are nuts! Um, yep! But I have known too many families lose children at a young age that we very, very rarely leave our's at home when we travel. It's gotta be a big thing for us to leave them.

Iceland was the only place we rented a car - drive on the right in the same seat position as US - so no big deal. Well marked roads. Most vehicles are stick shift, and I chose one that would not be offroad. Saved money but it would be a good place to let him start! We also did part of our tour off the beaten path (but still on roads) and went in the opposite direction of most tour buses, so very rarely had any crowds. Only one wrong turn - and the map didn't denote it to be gravel - but that was only a 15 minute detour to turn back. Just getting used to a stick shift again after almost 10 years of driving an automatic was my only biggie, but fun to drive for the day. I'm usually the driver anyway, but it wasn't anything like driving in St Thomas or St John - easy in Iceland.

 

[lilpooh108]

Thanks! The older one will remember it, as I am having her work on her writing skills in her journal each day now LOL. We are going day by day so she can draw her picture and write a few sentences (going into first grade this upcoming year and utilizing summer to stay on top of things!)



That was the SAME thing everyone told us! Y'all are nuts! Um, yep! But I have known too many families lose children at a young age that we very, very rarely leave our's at home when we travel. It's gotta be a big thing for us to leave them.

Iceland was the only place we rented a car - drive on the right in the same seat position as US - so no big deal. Well marked roads. Most vehicles are stick shift, and I chose one that would not be offroad. Saved money but it would be a good place to let him start! We also did part of our tour off the beaten path (but still on roads) and went in the opposite direction of most tour buses, so very rarely had any crowds. Only one wrong turn - and the map didn't denote it to be gravel - but that was only a 15 minute detour to turn back. Just getting used to a stick shift again after almost 10 years of driving an automatic was my only biggie, but fun to drive for the day. I'm usually the driver anyway, but it wasn't anything like driving in St Thomas or St John - easy in Iceland.

I'll let my DH know about the driving. I bet he'll want to plan a road trip

BTW, are you guys going to combine the WBTA in 2014 with another cruise prior to Sept 6? I actually had thought about it, but hearing about your experience makes it a more concrete idea.

 

[StephenKay]

Dear All,

As it is us men folk that pay for all these cruises, why can't we have an event such as Champagne Boys, something akin to a Top Table event or anything just to get away from the "pesky" girls/women where we can lock the doors, kick back and generally have a laugh without having to say YES DEAR, OF COURSE DEAR, THREE BAGS FULL DEAR. Surely there's something out there for us boys. Any ideas.

I have taken my brave pills today and was only joking above, but I wonder. What do you think? please don't flame me, Mary, my wife (Tod & Copper) will do that for you anyway.

 

[karentan]

WOW not been on Dis since page 40, not sure that I stand much chance of catching up but will try my best. Lots of new names to remember, so hello to all those old and new friends

So what did I miss, or is that a very big question !!!

Welcome back Margaret good to see you around x

 

[lilpooh108]

Dear All,

As it it us men folk that pay for all these cruises, why can't we have an event such as Champagne Boys, something akin to a Top Table event or anything just to get away from the girls/women were we can lock the doors kick back and generally have a laugh without having to say YES DEAR, OF COURSE DEAR, THREE BAGS FULL DEAR. Surely there's something out there for us boys. Any ideas.

I have taken my brave pills today and was only joking above but I wonder. What do you think, please don't flame me Mary will do that for you anyway.

On the main thread there's an idea for a beer exchange inside a lounge. I think that will be fun.

Yes dear, of course dear = happy wife = happy life. I have a friend that actually says this "Happy wife! Happy life!" Trying to get my DH onboard with that but he is resistant, lol.

 

[JessicasMom]

The NCL cruise was good. We looked at it from the perspective of "floating hotel with overnight transportation while sleeping". NCL has some really unique itineraries. It was our fourth NCL cruise, and we have also done a few on Celebrity and a couple on HAL, as we are not exclusive DCL folks. And our shortest cruise has been 7 nights, with the longer cruises appealing to us more.

The 12-night Spirit itinerary is well worth looking into if wanting to hit both sides of the Med. It was a great opportunity to see the two ports in Turkey we visited. We did have Athens cancelled about 11 hours prior to docking due to union work strikes, but the captain was able to substitute Dubrovnik, Croatia instead.
With the EBTA and time in Iceland afterwards, we ended up visiting about 16 cities in 10 countries during that time.

WOW!!! Sounds like so much fun...but exhausting .

Our EBTA / Med / Iceland trip overview:

- Flight to Houston 5/17/13 and car rental to Galveston for Tremont House night
- Embarked cruise in Galveston, TX with Captain Mickey after getting up early to watch the ship sail into Galveston for the final time with several from our DISboard rollcall
- Bahamas - Castaway Cay (horn battle between Magic and Dream, waterslides)
- cruised across the Atlantic (6 days in a row with no land)
- Portuguese island - Madeira, Funchal (explored town this time)
- UK - Gibraltar (did another tour of siege tunnels, rock, airport runway, Europa point)

- Spain - Barcelona (disembarked cruise, spent 3 nights there seeing Parc Guell, Casa Batllo, Sagrada Familia, Picasso museum, and other major sights)
- Spain - Monteserrat (went up the mountains to monastery, heard 800+ year old boys choir in amazing church, hiking with beautiful monuments telling the story of Christ, touched the black Madonna - this was on our own with the Renfre train I believe, not a guided tour - saved us $$$)

Boarded a 12-night cruise for the Med:
- France - Toulon (tourist train of town/beach, awesome crepes on the coast)
- Italy - went to:
--- Florence (too much to list that we saw in Florence, also had a side trip to organic winery that we loved)
--- Pisa (that tower is still there, had pizza and gelato for late lunch)
--- Rome (yay for skip-the-line tickets! saw the highlights on an 8 hour tour - Colloseum, Palatine Hill, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, etc and youn)
--- Naples (archaeological museum for Pompeii artifacts, pizza from Rick Steves' recommendation, gelato, and the vespas zipping down the streets),
--- Venice (yay for maps! had skip the line tickets for St Marks),
- Greece - went to Mykonos - windmills, over 300 churches on island, had authentic baklabav (but Athens was cancelled due to a strike)
- Turkey - went to:
--- Istanbul (Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, a pharmacy LOL -- in Istanbul when the rest of the world was seeing the Taksim Square riots - we used public metro and heard the sirens blaring for prayer time at the mosques)
--- Ephesus (and then a long tour in Ephesus to see Artemis, Basilica of St John, Gates of Ephesus, and last House of the Virgin Mary)
- Croatia - Dubrovnik and Ston - both places we would not hesitate to return to (tasted oysters from the Adriatic Sea - fresh, visited olive oil mill, wine tasting with walking tour of Old Town Dubrovnik; both towns had walls encircling them but Ston has the second longest wall in the world - next to Great Wall of China)
*** Used Rick Steves' guidance on pretty much every port except for the ones we had guided tours in (just easier to do with little children) - but still used his advice at those sites ***

Our post-cruise stops:
- Milan after the cruise disembarkation via train Trenatalia - were able to change from 8:50am train to 6:50am train no problem and have lots of room to spread out (in Milan saw the Last Supper painting that we pre-purchased tickets for the 3:30pm English tour, amazing duomo, exploring Milan by metro/foot, yummy homemade gnocci)
- Iceland - did the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon on our own with a car rental - and we will be returning! Made it home on 6/20/13

We used countless metros, public buses, taxis, churches, ruins, bottles of hand sanitizer, and gelato ice cream cones - and would do every bit of it again. Who says you can't travel with a 2- and 6- year old in Europe?!?

ETA:
We had been to Galveston, Madeira, Castaway Cay, Gibraltar, and Barcelona previously, so took it easy in those places (hence the day trip to Montserrat while in Barcelona). Every other location was new to us.

I also love the foodie tour aspect...but now I'm craving gelato .

Where did you stay in Barca and Iceland? Did you arrange all tours on your own, or did you book some from the cruise lines?

We're doing NCL for the first time in Sept. (Alaska), so I appreciate your comments. Not all of us are exclusively Dissers , even though we LOVE the Mouse.

 

[arlenesp]

Dear All,

As it it us men folk that pay for all these cruises, why can't we have an event such as Champagne Boys, something akin to a Top Table event or anything just to get away from the "pesky" girls/women were we can lock the doors kick back and generally have a laugh without having to say YES DEAR, OF COURSE DEAR, THREE BAGS FULL DEAR. Surely there's something out there for us boys. Any ideas.

I have taken my brave pills today and was only joking above but I wonder. What do you think, please don't flame me Mary, my wife (Tod & Copper) will do that for you anyway.

Hoping to join this group. On our EB panama canal in 2008 the men staged a speedo parade outside Palo when the ladies were having their brunch.

 

[lilpooh108]

Hoping to join this group. On our EB panama canal in 2008 the men staged a speedo parade outside Palo when the ladies were having their brunch.

Love it A meal and a show

 

[gramfrog]

Dear All,

As it it us men folk that pay for all these cruises, why can't we have an event such as Champagne Boys, something akin to a Top Table event or anything just to get away from the "pesky" girls/women were we can lock the doors kick back and generally have a laugh without having to say YES DEAR, OF COURSE DEAR, THREE BAGS FULL DEAR. Surely there's something out there for us boys. Any ideas.

I have taken my brave pills today and was only joking above but I wonder. What do you think, please don't flame me Mary, my wife (Tod & Copper) will do that for you anyway.

OMG. Too funny, Stevie! OF COURSE you guys can have a chest beating man cave event! Just schedule it far enough in advance on a sea day so we women can take over the SPA!!!!

 

[gramfrog]

Hoping to join this group. On our EB panama canal in 2008 the men staged a speedo parade outside Palo when the ladies were having their brunch.

Not in favor of that!!!

 

[arlenesp]

Not in favor of that!!!

Not one bit pretty.

 

[MandyGirl]

BTW, are you guys going to combine the WBTA in 2014 with another cruise prior to Sept 6? I actually had thought about it, but hearing about your experience makes it a more concrete idea.

We are eyeballing the NCL Baltic cruise prior to WBTA, but also a land vacation. Hubby has to bid for vacation, so we won't have confirmation of that until September. That said, I don't think he would be opposed to me taking the kids early as I have taken them on "girls trips" in other states several times by myself. I do want to go to England and meet some of my grandmother's relatives as she moved from there after meeting my grandfather (a US Serviceman) during WWII, so my roots from her side are south of London. Too much to choose from.

Dear All,

As it it us men folk that pay for all these cruises, why can't we have an event such as Champagne Boys, something akin to a Top Table event or anything just to get away from the "pesky" girls/women were we can lock the doors kick back and generally have a laugh without having to say YES DEAR, OF COURSE DEAR, THREE BAGS FULL DEAR. Surely there's something out there for us boys. Any ideas.

I have taken my brave pills today and was only joking above but I wonder. What do you think, please don't flame me Mary, my wife (Tod & Copper) will do that for you anyway.

We adore you, Stevie!!

WOW!!! Sounds like so much fun...but exhausting .

I also love the foodie tour aspect...but now I'm craving gelato .

Where did you stay in Barca and Iceland? Did you arrange all tours on your own, or did you book some from the cruise lines?

We're doing NCL for the first time in Sept. (Alaska), so I appreciate your comments. Not all of us are exclusively Dissers , even though we LOVE the Mouse.

This time for Barcelona, we stayed in an apartment since DMIL was with us, giving us 5 total. Stayed near Passeig de Gracia metro stop. Perfect location. Iceland was an apartment about ten minutes west of KEF airport with transportation provided. We book things on a budget but also balance location, reviews, etc. Don't need all the bells and whistles - just a clean place to shower and sleep in a safe part of town. Unless it's free - then I'll take the bells and whistles

All tours were on our own except for Dubrovnik (Croatia). Only reason we chose the cruise line tour was because DMIL offered to give us a tour as my birthday present and for doing all the planning I did, and I had not downloaded any Croatia info prior to travel to my ipad, so it was going to be planning blind upon arrival (and didn't want to pay internet). A tour looked good, and tossed it out there, and she and DH went for it. I think this was our 13th cruise and over 10 years since we have done a ship tour. The last was off the coast of Venezuela.

Same for when we did Alaska - no ship tours. Did it all ourselves including renting a car in Skagway to do the drive to Emerald Lake (I coordinated a group of about 14 of us right before child #1 was born). Ketchikan we went on a private fishing tour, Juneau we just went to the glacier, and Wrangell was a foot tour independently. We hope to get back to Alaska soon for a one-way cruise and tack on Denali. On the list....

OMG. Too funny, Stevie! OF COURSE you guys can have a chest beating man cave event! Just schedule it far enough in advance on a sea day so we women can take over the SPA!!!!

Ahhh.... spa..... on my "need" list now that we are back home

 

[mdwoodman]

Dear All,

As it it us men folk that pay for all these cruises, why can't we have an event such as Champagne Boys, something akin to a Top Table event or anything just to get away from the "pesky" girls/women were we can lock the doors kick back and generally have a laugh without having to say YES DEAR, OF COURSE DEAR, THREE BAGS FULL DEAR. Surely there's something out there for us boys. Any ideas.

I have taken my brave pills today and was only joking above but I wonder. What do you think, please don't flame me Mary, my wife (Tod & Copper) will do that for you anyway.

Check out post #4 for the WWMC!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Dear All,

As it is us men folk that pay for all these cruises, why can't we have an event such as Champagne Boys, something akin to a Top Table event or anything just to get away from the "pesky" girls/women where we can lock the doors, kick back and generally have a laugh without having to say YES DEAR, OF COURSE DEAR, THREE BAGS FULL DEAR. Surely there's something out there for us boys. Any ideas.

I have taken my brave pills today and was only joking above, but I wonder. What do you think? please don't flame me, Mary, my wife (Tod & Copper) will do that for you anyway.

But can you boys be trusted out alone .... I recall vividly a few chaps who would have missed the ship in Tortola had it not been for your women steering you in the right direction ie. the opposite direction to the Pussers Rum Bar.

 

[Shazzie B]

Hoping to join this group. On our EB panama canal in 2008 the men staged a speedo parade outside Palo when the ladies were having their brunch.

That'll help our diets

 

[StephenKay]

But can you boys be trusted out alone .... I recall vividly a few chaps who would have missed the ship in Tortola had it not been for your women steering you in the right direction ie. the opposite direction to the Pussers Rum Bar.

I can of course be trusted, well most of the time, I always try to be good at being naughty. I don't know how you can remember the Tortola Bar incident, you also had to be helped to bed by your DH Tony and missed the evening meal due to alcohol yourself. Mary, my DW (Tod and Copper) did tell me you guided me to gangplank and thanks for that, I was drunk yet, just tipsy. Norman (RIP) has slight bit of blame, he shouldn't have forced that extra beers down me on the boat on the way back. It was a great day and a great cruises, lots of new friends and fun, plus some alcohol.

For everyone's info, I think the table at Palo was booked for 6 of us that night, however due to being led astray by Mandygirl (best ever day trip ever) to Jost Van Dyke only 3 people made it to dinner and certainly not Sarah (Notso-TotallyAngelic) and me, of course. I would say in my defence, that a cocktail of prescrbed medicine and sun stroke also played a part, I did actually get showered and dressed to get to dinner, however I took one look in the mirror and that sent me back to bed for the night

I felt fine the next day apart from the sunburn.ouch!
The WBTA could be great fun mined you the EBTA was great also

 

[Tod&Copper]

But can you boys be trusted out alone .... I recall vividly a few chaps who would have missed the ship in Tortola had it not been for your women steering you in the right direction ie. the opposite direction to the Pussers Rum Bar.

I can of course be trusted, well most of the time, I always try to be good at being naughty. I don't know how you can remember the Tortola Bar incident, you also had to be helped to bed by DH Tony and missed the evening meal due to alcohol yourself. Mary, my DW (Tod and Copper) did tell me you guided me to gangplank and thanks for that, I was drunk yet, just tipsy. Norman (RIP) has slight bit of blame, he shouldn't have forced that extra beers down me on the boat on the way back. It was a great day and a great cruises, lots of new friends and fun, plus some alcohol.

For everyone's info, I think the table at Palo was booked for 6 of us that night, however due to being led astray by Mandygirl (best ever day trip ever) to Jost Van Dyke only 3 people made it to dinner and certainly not Sarah (Notso-TotallyAngelic) and me, of course. I would say in my defence, that a cocktail of prescrbed medicine and sun stroke also played a part, I did actually get showered and dressed to get to dinner, however I took one look in the mirror and that sent me back to bed for the night

I felt fine the next day apart from the sunburn.ouch!
The WBTA could be great fun mined you the EBTA was great also

From the person who was the most sober and did make it to dinner that night ..... some alcohol Stevie ?? ..... Tony and yourself had 3 painkillers to our one if I remember very vividly

In Sarah's defence though, we did make it safely back onto the ship and you boys went straight to bed. Sarah and I made our way to Plutos and got some scrummy fries to soak up the alcohol but, I understand that, as soon as you 3 hit your beds that night, none of you managed out until the next morning, but at least you had a good sleep and no-one woke up with a hangover, but did have some major sunburn

You're quite right Stevie, I think it is MandyGirl's fault for organising an amazing trip and leading us all astray on that beautiful beach with plentiful painkillers

 

[MandyGirl]

You're quite right Stevie, I think it is MandyGirl's fault for organising an amazing trip and leading us all astray on that beautiful beach with plentiful painkillers

Need my toes in the sand now