UPDATED! 24 April 2010 - Mediterranean Adventures of an Aussie family! Trip Report

[Becx N Gav]

Hey there I just spotted your PTR and thought I should say hi!

Your kids are adorable and I love the dress you have

I can't believe how close it's getting now, I hope your mother-in-law is ok?

Looking forward to meeting you on the cruise - I can't wait

 

[NC_Tink]

Hi Shushh!! Just found your PTR - very nicely done!! It seems like you have a great plan in place Can't wait for the actual trip to start. It's hard to believe that it's now less than one month away. I'm really looking forward to meeting all of our fellow DISers!

 

[shushh]

Can't wait to meet you all as well! In a bit of a panic at the moment as I just realised that we've still got alot to do and we're going away as well before the trip. And thanks for the compliments on the children! MIL thankfully is doing well. She can now walk again and was even able to go shopping the other day.

Found the journals designed by Brooklyn and here are the photos as promised.

 

[soxfan1495]

Great discussion! Since we are going after you, in August, all of your hard work will be helpful for our planning. We are really looking forward to hearing about your trip. We hope you have a great cruise.

 

[Dicecatt]

Subscribing! And your babies are beautiful!!!

 

[shushh]

Subscribing! And your babies are beautiful!!!

Thanks!

 

[shushh]

Well, we're back from our trip to Canberra. Whilst it was nice visiting our dear friends who we haven't seen for a while, its 4 less days I have to prepare for our trip to Europe.

I can't believe we're flying out in 8 days!!! Eeekss!!!! To make matters worse, I've got an infection in my eye so I can't see properly!

My list of "to-do"s is so long, its not funny. DH exchanged some cash the other day. We're so grateful that the Australian dollar is strong at the moment. Makes a big difference.

I need to get some rest to make sure my eye improves. I can't see what I'm typing!

 

[shushh]

Bad news...need to go to hospital for IV antibiotics. Frantically scrambling to get care for the 3 kiddies and can't contact DH. ARRGHHH!!!

 

[Topscot]

Hopefully it's just a bad case of conjunctivitis! Myself and my daughter always seem to get sick around a vacation. Last time it was my daughter with Scarlet Fever !! And the time before that, my daughter had a stomach virus while I came down with viral conjunctivits, then the flu! All in the space of 2 weeks. I'll be thinking of you and wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[shushh]

Hopefully it's just a bad case of conjunctivitis! Myself and my daughter always seem to get sick around a vacation. Last time it was my daughter with Scarlet Fever !! And the time before that, my daughter had a stomach virus while I came down with viral conjunctivits, then the flu! All in the space of 2 weeks. I'll be thinking of you and wish you a speedy recovery.

Thank you for your well wishes! I don't think I could have coped with the children being sick!

I'm out early and very grateful for it. I was meant to stay in until Friday. But they kindly agreed to "squeeze" in required amount of antibugs into a shorter timeframe as the eye responded really well. I had a tear gland abscess. I can see now!

Well the house looks like a bombsite, there's a ton of washing to do, I haven't packed, nor have we finished our online check in. Also need to print/confirm various tours/vouchers. HELP!!! We have 4 days to sort everything out. The great news though, is that we have bought ourselves a brand new DSLR with 2 rather expensive lenses...The aim is to practice on European architecture in preparation for spectacular WDW photos later on in the year! LOL

 

[shushh]

I can't believe we'll be on a plane in 3 days time. Well that's if the volcanic ash clears. At the moment, it is affecting the UK and Northern Europe only but I fear that the wind will carry it down south. So its checking the airline website everyday 8 hours for cancellations. I hope that it clears in time as I know many of the med 24 cruisers are flying in through the UK. My parents are also flying in to join us from Holland and all flights in Holland have been cancelled as well. sigh...

So all we can do I suppose is prepare and hope. I picked up a stroller/carseat for the plane loaned from a kind person I met on a travel forum. This should help with settling Jonah for the 22 hour plus flight. We also picked up our new camera lenses. The annoying news is that the new clothes I had ordered online for the children was accidentally cancelled by the store and so will not arrive in time. Oh well, on with the packing!

 

[shushh]

Disaster. Things are not looking good. Most flights into Europe have been cancelled including my flight route on days preceding the 20th. I have not been able to find ANY alternative flights anywhere close.

The routes either go through an airport that's closed, or have no available seats left. This includes flying through any other Spanish city, Italy, Africa and even via America. I'm starting to panic now.

Our only hope is that the cloud doesn't spread to Greece and that Singapore airlines will still have seats on their Singapore to Athens leg. We'll then have to figure out some way of getting to Spain from Greece.

 

[lmhall2000]

Disaster. Things are not looking good. Most flights into Europe have been cancelled including my flight route on days preceding the 20th. I have not been able to find ANY alternative flights anywhere close.

The routes either go through an airport that's closed, or have no available seats left. This includes flying through any other Spanish city, Italy, Africa and even via America. I'm starting to panic now.

Our only hope is that Singapore the cloud doesn't spread to Greece and that Singapore airlines will still have seats on their Singapore to Athens leg. We'll then have to figure out some way of getting to Spain from Greece.

Praying for you! I know you are checking every angle...just wanted to offer you encouragment and sending pixie dust your way....

Come on airlines!! Come on volcanic dust...clear the way for this family to take a break!!

Tara

 

[smeecanada]

Yipes. Sending lots of pixie dust your way. Have you looked at train options? Just a thought. How much buffer time do you have to try and get from point A to B?

 

[shushh]

Ok, I have on hold flights leaving on the 20th April to Barcelona BUT...it goes

SYD-Seoul-NYC-Lisbon-Barcelona with a 21 hour layover in NYC and a travel time of over 50 horus. Sigh...and costing $3200 each!!! And I'm worried about getting stranded in NYC. If I get to Lisbon, I can at least make it over land somehow to Spain. The trains are getting booked out though.

Next option is to go Syd-Abu dhabi-Casablanca and then work out someway of getting from Northern Africa to Spain.

I have until the 24th to get to Barcelona! Thanks for all the pixie dusting! I think we'll all need a whole lot.

 

[lmhall2000]

Ok, I have on hold flights leaving on the 20th April to Barcelona BUT...it goes

SYD-Seoul-NYC-Lisbon-Barcelona with a 21 hour layover in NYC and a travel time of over 50 horus. Sigh...and costing $3200 each!!! And I'm worried about getting stranded in NYC. If I get to Lisbon, I can at least make it over land somehow to Spain. The trains are getting booked out though.

Next option is to go Syd-Abu dhabi-Casablanca and then work out someway of getting from Northern Africa to Spain.

I have until the 24th to get to Barcelona! Thanks for all the pixie dusting! I think we'll all need a whole lot.

Any thought that you might could switch to the May 5th sailing? I'm sure there's plenty of room, but you might want to check before others start calling Dis..would love to have you on our sailing!! But still pulling for you to work it out...I use Travelocity to compare airfares, then book directly with the airline...best fares come out usually after 10pm for some reason, believe me I spent hours a day checking and then oila, an airfare would pop up that never had shown before...Tuesdays/Wednesdays were the most active for flights changing...pulling for you!!
Tara

 

[shushh]

Unfortunately we can't switch to the May 5th sailing. The 1st being that DCL's official line is that they won't do refunds/insurance won't cover as technically the conditions aren't affecting the ship sailing. They've been pretty crap with info/service actually. DH unfortunately doesn't have the leave. His leave is near impossible to move around. My parents are also already in Europe. Otherwise, I'd love to get catch the later cruise!

The news continues to worsen. Singapore airlines has now agreed to waive cancellation and rebooking fees for flights up to and including 2 May. This means they think it'll go on for that long. I'm rather confused about my options at the moment, or lack thereof.

 

[lmhall2000]

Unfortunately we can't switch to the May 5th sailing. The 1st being that DCL's official line is that they won't do refunds/insurance won't cover as technically the conditions aren't affecting the ship sailing. They've been pretty crap with info/service actually. DH unfortunately doesn't have the leave. His leave is near impossible to move around. My parents are also already in Europe. Otherwise, I'd love to get catch the later cruise!

The news continues to worsen. Singapore airlines has now agreed to waive cancellation and rebooking fees for flights up to and including 2 May. This means they think it'll go on for that long. I'm rather confused about my options at the moment, or lack thereof.

I'm hopeful for you! I just read an article that said 50% of International flights should be open on Monday...not sure when you were supposed to fly out but hopefully it will look up soon for you!

Tara

 

[smeecanada]

I was telling my DH about your dilemma. He suggestion was look at flying East. EG. Australia/LA or someplace/ to possibly NY/ then Barcelona. Haven't a clue how much airtime that would be for you. Just a thought.

 

[shushh]

Thank you all for your support. The Lord provides!

Our flight has been officially cancelled, and the day has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I am however, going to focus on the positive! Singapore airlines has agreed to let us use the return leg of our flights, and I managed to get us on a flight leaving tomorrow for Madrid with Aerolineas Argentinas. We will be going through Auckland and Buenos Aires but we will get to Spain!

From there, we will have to make our way to Barcelona but we have 3 days to do it! We have so much to do so I will leave it here and hopefully I will be able to update this report with more good news.