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

[wayneg]

I'm trying not to get too excited about this cruise as I may have to cancel.

I'm extremely allergic to cigarette smoke and with the changes on DCL, I'm not sure what it will be like up on deck. I've also heard that Europe is not like Canada/US and that worries me.

Is it as bad as what a friend has told me about people allowed to smoke in the hotels?

In the UK not noticed any difference to US, we have a no smoking policy for all stores, bars & restaurants, in hotels we always ask for no smoking rooms and never had a problem. Not been to Spain for a few years now but not expecting any issues.

 

[iamtinkerballa]

$3,170 for 1 seat? that suggests an error direct with the AF website, It should be under $2,000 for a Business class ticket, no idea how they get over $3k for economy.

Never heard of Hop2 so just checked their prices for what I am looking for, similar prices to other sites for me, no bargains. Lowest is $536 for a direct seat from Orlando to Manchester UK. $575 is surely about right isn't it?

No lie. I clicked on the link to take me to AirFrance and sure enough, it told me $3168 to be exact, for 1 person. Out of curiosity I opened a new page and did a complete new search for Nashville to Barcelona on AirFrance and it did display $3168. Now thats insane. I'm not paying that.

Other 3rd parties were FlightHub, Smartfares, FareGeek, and FareDepot. I've never heard of these before. I'm almost inclined to purchase from where I trust, Expedia.

 

[vakamalua]

That sounds so fun! A few questions...

(1) How was the weather in November? We're going soon and I'd been wondering about both the weather in FL and the weather on Castaway Cay.

(2) Any "new" food/menu items from the new/refurbed restaurants (QS and TS)?

(3) Did the new Shutters copy the Dream/Fantasy's style of giving each family a portfolio rather than spreading out all the pictures for all to see?

Thanks!

1. The weather for sail away in Miami (11/10) and the first sea day were great--sunny and warm, low to mid 80s. The Cozumel day was warmer, probably around 90, and very sunny. The sea temperature in Cozumel was perfect and we stayed in the water a long time. The second sea day was very windy and chilly with rough seas. No one was on the upper decks which were soaked from all the waves from the pools. The ship rocked and rolled well into the night but we woke to a lovely day at Castaway Cay. It was a bit windy but sunny, high 70s; the sea temperature was cooler than Cozumel but we still spent a lot of time on floats in the water.

2. I'm not sure if there were any new items on the regular AP and Lumiere's menus--nothing comes to mind. Pirate Night & the last night's menu seemed to be the same. Of course, Carrioca's is an all new menu. To be honest, we really didn't like that menu. We never ate QS during the cruise. The expanded buffet, now Cabanas, seemed to have pretty much the same food offerings but now divided into stations like the bigger ships. The one thing we didn't like is that they did away with the buffet breakfast in the restaurant so even though Cabanas has a bit more seating, it is really crowded at peak times.

3. Yes, each cabin has a portfolio of pictures which you can access when Shutters is open and you can also access them at all hours from the electronic kiosks.

Hope this answers your Qs...

 

[GatorMomInNC]

No lie. I clicked on the link to take me to AirFrance and sure enough, it told me $3168 to be exact, for 1 person. Out of curiosity I opened a new page and did a complete new search for Nashville to Barcelona on AirFrance and it did display $3168. Now thats insane. I'm not paying that.

Other 3rd parties were FlightHub, Smartfares, FareGeek, and FareDepot. I've never heard of these before. I'm almost inclined to purchase from where I trust, Expedia.

I booked my flight on Lufthansa through Kayak. I paid $750 per ticket (4 tix). I looked at the Lufthansa website and the same ticket was $3209 per person. I have called Lufthansa and they had my reservation and assigned me seats, so I guess we are good..

 

[squirrel]

Is everyone leaving on Sept 4th or earlier? Or is anyone chancing leaving on the 5th from North America?

Is anyone booking hotels yet?

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Is everyone leaving on Sept 4th or earlier? Or is anyone chancing leaving on the 5th from North America?

Is anyone booking hotels yet?

We leave on the 3rd, arrive Barcelona on the 4th.

In March of 2013 I booked 2 rooms (there are 4 of us and so we need 2 rooms ) for Friday the 5th at Le Meridien on Las Ramblas using points (12k each night). When we did the WBTA last time we wanted to stay there but there were no rooms at all, let alone any rooms left for points. So this time I thought WAY ahead. Now we are arriving Thursday we need to book a 2nd night, but now it is 16k points! We should have enough points in a few days for one room, then I will pay cash for the last room - almost US$340! We could find someplace cheaper, but I really want to stay on Las Ramblas!

Anyone else staying at Las Ramblas?

 

[pharmjenn]

Is everyone leaving on Sept 4th or earlier? Or is anyone chancing leaving on the 5th from North America?

Is anyone booking hotels yet?

We are planning on leaving Weds Sept 3, arriving the morning of the 4th. That way we will have 2 days to explore (and push through the jet lag)

 

[twopeasonepod]

We are going to fly out either Sept. 1 or 2. I keep looking at flights and they are ridiculous. $3518 from HNL-BCN. Even when I make a multi-destination reservation (HNL-BCN, SJU-MCO, MCO-HNL), the $3518 tacks on. Using miles is also double the amount from HNL-BCN than it was for BCN-HNL on EBTA this year.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

After this cruise a one way flight home with Virgin Atlantic is $1,499pp. I can book thru an agent for $680pp or, for my Son because he is still at University $452. Brings price down from $4,497 to $1,812. Sill hope to use miles though.

Do you mind me asking where you are finding the cheaper Virgin flights Wayne. Thanks.

 

[wayneg]

Do you mind me asking where you are finding the cheaper Virgin flights Wayne. Thanks.

What date you looking for? into MAN or LON? I will have a search and see if I can find anything.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

MCo - Man - 2 tickets on 20th September and 7 tickets on 24 / 25 SEPT. Thanks such a lot.

 

[LindaBabe]

Is everyone leaving on Sept 4th or earlier? Or is anyone chancing leaving on the 5th from North America?

Is anyone booking hotels yet?

We are leaving August 27th, flying to Iceland for two nights, then on to Barcelona on the 30th. Since we'll be there so long, we rented an efficiency apartment from a poster on VBRO. It had good reviews, so we took the risk. The hotel where we stayed in 2011 wanted more per night than we paid for 3

 

[wayneg]

MCo - Man - 2 tickets on 20th September and 7 tickets on 24 / 25 SEPT. Thanks such a lot.

For the 20th they are not showing on sites I know, maybe American travellers have heard of them?
Put your search into Bookingbuddy.com and then click on iEagle ($690) or Smartfares ($706) Exploretrip $675 For students under 26 Student Universe $452
Kayak.co.uk is showing Condor(Thomas Cook) at £315

Same price showing on Kayak for 25th with Condor.
No time now to search for $ prices but have a look on US sites/search engines.

I am now considering Condor for the 27th instead of using airmiles, £315pp is not bad.

 

[lovingthemouse]

We are all leaving late afternoon on Sept 2nd, arriving the next morning.Thankfully, all the reservations prior to the cruise are set, now to wait and find flights back home.

 

[psmutny]

Is everyone leaving on Sept 4th or earlier? Or is anyone chancing leaving on the 5th from North America? Is anyone booking hotels yet?

. We booked with Disney and they will put us on a sept 5 flight that gets in to barcelona the at 6 a.m. On the 6th. Hope nothing goes wrong. If anyone knows of any issues please let me know so we can get them to make the flight a day or so early. Please!!!! Do t want anything to go wrong.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[SucalT]

Is everyone leaving on Sept 4th or earlier? Or is anyone chancing leaving on the 5th from North America?

Is anyone booking hotels yet?

We are leaving on Aug 25. We have a one night stop over in Istanbul then continue on to 6 nights in Rome.

We will be heading to Barcelona on September 2 for 4 nights in the Las Ramblas area.

Post cruise, we will be staying in San Juan for 3 nights before headed home!

Booked all flights and hotels yesterday!

August 25 - September 23. Crazy long vacation!!


By the way, I have been lurking for a while (booked opening day), but have been too busy to participate in the thread. Facebook request has been sent as well.

 

[tinkerbell_29]

We are leaving on sept 2nd arriving in Barcelona on the 3rd. We are also spending 2 nights in San Juan before heading home booked through Disney.

I some how missed the link for the Facebook page would someone mind posting it thanks.

Melissa

 

[SucalT]

We are leaving on sept 2nd arriving in Barcelona on the 3rd. We are also spending 2 nights in San Juan before heading home booked through Disney.

I some how missed the link for the Facebook page would someone mind posting it thanks.

Melissa

Here is the link:


The Magic is Back 2014

 

[Gilland18]

We are having Disney arrange our flights, leaving Sept. 3 to arrive Sept. 4. Some of our party don't have enough time off to stay in San Juan so we'll be heading home on the 20th.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

For the 20th they are not showing on sites I know, maybe American travellers have heard of them?
Put your search into Bookingbuddy.com and then click on iEagle ($690) or Smartfares ($706) Exploretrip $675 For students under 26 Student Universe $452
Kayak.co.uk is showing Condor(Thomas Cook) at £315

Same price showing on Kayak for 25th with Condor.
No time now to search for $ prices but have a look on US sites/search engines.

I am now considering Condor for the 27th instead of using airmiles, £315pp is not bad.

Those are not bad at all Wayne .... hopefully they will still be available when we get to book in January. Those websites will be very useful for me thank you.