Updated Page 1...Madly Making Memories Multiply in Mediterranean Mickey Mode-Pre-trip

[Angie_Ohio]

The suspense is killing me! Did you get flights? I'm going to end up sleepless like you were. This is like a novel, with twists and turns at every chapter.
I've been lurking and note taking. My Med cruise is 2011.

 

[keaster]

the suspense is killing me too ...did you book your flights yet? Are you going for the 8:20am one?

 

[lmhall2000]

It's a Red Letter Day!!

Whew!! Here are the emotions I've been through the past 5 months..











Well, let's just throw another in there!! After the fiasco last time, I had to conference call Delta/my bank to confirm that I did indeed cancel the tickets and they would release my funds back to me, can you believe that they could have HELD on to all that money for 5 business days even after you cancel?? The only way to get it back is to do a 3-way conference call....

So, fast forward this saga...and the I've been battling these dadblasted websites. One minute, it would show a fare of $709 (before taxes) but the return would have us on a 24 hour LAYOVER before flying, now COME ON..who has a layover for a whole day?? Isn't that technically a whole new flight? So, then I would play with the numbers, try and book 3 then 4..well, I'd get a great deal for the 3, then with another screen pulled up try and book the same leg for the 4 and oila, it had jumped $300 per ticket! Oh my! So, today I found a return flight on the 16th that had a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam and could get us back to Alabama (different city, but who cares?) that day....so I reach for the phone to make sure my mom could tolerate the 3 flights (only 2 on the leg in to BCN) and had not even been on hold 2 minutes and when I clicked BUY, it said TIME EXPIRED!! EEEK. So, then I spent 3 hours trying to refind that fare! That's when it kept giving me a 24 hour layover in Amsterdam instead of 4....

Finally, I asked my dd11 to pray with me...(warning sappy religious content here) and she took my hand and prayed that God would give us a flight for $500 (she has no clue what they cost, she just picked a number, but I smiled thinking, yeah, that would be nice!)...I came back to the computer half thinking $500 would pop up but nope, the same 24 hour layover...I was defeated...I got up, got a glass of water, came back and tried it one more time (heck it's only the 580th time I've put something in on that db website)...and lo and behold, there it was, 4 hour layover...right days, right number of people and I hit PURCHASE!!!

So WE HAVE TICKETS!!! We will have to drive 2 hours to get to the airport, and on the return after traveling for 24 hours we will have to drive 2 hours home...but WE HAVE TICKETS!!!

We are flying in the day of the cruise, no panic there..but could make for some interesting trip reports! Now I'm off to go find cheap hotel rooms for 7..I think I'll just say it's 6 and hide a child in the bathroom while dh checks in! Oh well...c'est la vie! or I guess since it's Barcelona...livin la vida loca!!

Mrs. T

 

[MinnieDiva]

Not sure how you were dealing with that stress, but CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! That has to be a huge barrier now gone!

 

[MrsMork]

I'm wondering what time your flight arrives on departure day??? That would make me nervous. We are flying in 2 days early, just because so much can go wrong and with making our own flight arrangements, DCL will not wait for us!!

 

[lmhall2000]

I'm wondering what time your flight arrives on departure day??? That would make me nervous. We are flying in 2 days early, just because so much can go wrong and with making our own flight arrangements, DCL will not wait for us!!

We fly in at 8:55 am...the only thing that could mess us up is not getting that 5:50 flight out of Atlanta to Barcelona, if it cancels, we're messed up..but on a lighter note, on average (kind of a predictable risk person) less than 2% of flights have been cancelled in the last 10 years...now with those odds, if ours is cancelled we deal with it and seek out an adventure to try and catch up to the boat at the next port! Just rent a minivan and drive around! Really, for me, life is not about cushioning yourselves and trying your best to protect against inconveniences...it's getting out there and taking what comes...we have limitations others might not have (limited time off from work, scarce funds, and a take what happens and deal with it attitude)...it would be more stressful to me to try and find hotel deals/food/transportation for extra days for 7 people..if it were just me and one of my children or just my husband, I'd probably stay a day extra just to sight see...but with 7 you're talking mega budget!

You guys have been AWESOME at encouraging me and not letting me lose the faith....I may be an emotional basket case on this trip, we've beared so much the past 3 years, have our bodies/minds so busy with projects that while so worthy can make you weary....this vacation will be a time to just focus on our precious children, a chance for my parents to enjoy their 48th year of marriage...and for my precious husband to know that he is so treasured.....

Viva France! Viva Italia! Viva Espana!!

Now off to finish staining the play set, planting 12 azaleas/bushes, moving 25 wheelbarrows of dirt....oh my....

Mrs. T

 

[shushh]

Tara it looks like we have a date to meet up at the airport. Glad that you finally got tickets. It was getting kinda tense!!!! I can't imagine how stressful it must have been for you.

 

[cj'smom]

I think you'll be fine with your flight. It's rare for flights to be totally cancelled out of Atlanta. Delayed for things like thunderstorms - yes...but with a non-stop, you don't have to worry about missing a connection and it arrives so early that there is plenty of time to allow for delays.

 

[PURTYPAT1]

I enjoying your report. A little advice for you if you don't mind. I would keep the Cat 9. We were on the Med 2 years ago, there really wasn't much time to enjoy the Verhanda. Honestly, we were hardly in our rooms. We spent much more time off the Magic than on her.

Tip 2 Beware of the pick pocketers and scams, in Barcelona. My best friend had her lap top stolen in the airport. My other friend had water thrown on them in the subway, helpful by-standers came to aide my friend & guided her family to the rest rooms to clean up. It was a scam. The people who were helping, were actually pick pocketing there wallets.

The cruise before ours, there was a family who rented a car touring Barcelona. They had a flat tire. People stopped to help the family change the tire. When the family got back into there car, the womens purse was gone.

In Rome, our tour guide had chased away 2 pick pocketers. I don't want to scare you, but want you to be aware. I was. I actually wore a money belt inside my pants. I heard so many stories that scared the heck out of me.

Has anyone told you, what Disney did with the children and the booklets on our Med cruise?

Glad you got your airfare what did you end up paying?

 

[2littlegirls]

glad you got your tickets!

 

[lmhall2000]

Has anyone told you, what Disney did with the children and the booklets on our Med cruise?

Glad you got your airfare what did you end up paying?

OH MY!! I have warned my family about the scammers and pickpocketers, I did just buy a 'thief' proof bag from Overstock.com..the straps can not be cut and even I have a hard time figuring out how to get in the purse!! We have money belts, but even with those I hate people seeing me take them off at the check in lines at the airport....we don't have much money, so maybe they'll just steal my bargain bag where I'll just keep snacks for the kids! Thanks so much for the tips!!

I don't know about the booklets...what are those?? Would love details! I'm making a book for both my girls and a little fun thing to give to other kids on our fish extender group.

I got the airfare for around $800....it was $707 but then you had to add in taxes....much better than the $1100 I kept seeing! I did get a great deal on Priceline for the Hesperia hotel....just around $80 for each room....not bad!!

I have soo much going on these next two weeks, I just don't see how it'll all get done!! I had done so well staying on the treadmill and losing weight I put on from stress of having 2 house payments for over 2 years...then the stress of not finding airline tickets sidetracked me...had hoped to be in 2 sizes smaller, but only managing one size smaller, but just one more step to being in better health again!

I'm headed out to do some major dirt moving, hope I can get it done, the pool is supposed to get it's final coat Saturday and need to move all dirt from the edge of pool...aagh! I have about 12 hours of computer work to do for an upcoming tournament I'm helping run for the kids...it's just an onslaught of busy busy busy....forget packing/laundry/dishes!! my kitchen is a mess!! And my trash is reeking of the half banana I had yesterday....need to take the trash out!!!

Thank you all for your support and encouragment!! I hope those planning their Med or first cruise can save themselves some trouble through my errors!

Mrs. T

 

[Dicecatt]

Subscribing! And I am SO glad you didn't end up getting really super early flights on the departure day. I really look forward to hearing about your trip!

 

[MagicDreams]

Hi Tara,
I just finished reading your whole blog late last nite and am more excited NOW and then ever before. You ROCK!! I'm glad that your house finally sold and that you got the airfare tickets. My sister and I are going on the same cruise for May 5-15. I cant wait. Your post has truly been a great help. Well its 19 more days till the fun begins. I cant wait!!!

 

[lmhall2000]

Hi Tara,
I just finished reading your whole blog late last nite and am more excited NOW and then ever before. You ROCK!! I'm glad that your house finally sold and that you got the airfare tickets. My sister and I are going on the same cruise for May 5-15. I cant wait. Your post has truly been a great help. Well its 19 more days till the fun begins. I cant wait!!!

WELCOME MagicDreams!!

Please go to the Disney Cruise Meets thread and find the May 5th sailing...there are lots of pages to go through, but you'll find some great information! So happy to have you sailing with us! I did so much research on all the ports ahead of time that I hoped this report could save some the trouble!

I'll be packing the day before with the way my schedule is running the next two weeks...sooo nervous I'll forget something important, it's nice to 'know' fellow travelers ahead of time so we can encourage one another!

Have a blast planning and can't wait to see the Magic!!

Mrs. T

 

[lmhall2000]

Eyjafjallajokull pronounced: ELIN-NOR-de-GREN

Who would have ever guessed a volcano in Iceland would cause such havoc?? I am sending out major pixie dust to all the travelers on the Magic as we speak needing to fly back home on the 24th of April, and for those trying to get there to sail on the 24th for their adventure. I can only imagine the angst right now and prayers are there for you all!!

Having just bought my airfare about a week ago I had not bought insurance yet, not knowing what the airfare costs would be. So, now I just bought it, so I'm covered if the sister volcano decides to erupt but nothing for this one...so here's to hoping that by May 4th, it will all blow over... and we can sail this trip!

On technical notes, not sure if I should exchange $ for euros yet...wondering if I should wait out this volcano stuff...but then will the volcano cause the euro to drop? Any dollar saved is a happy thing.

Also have not even begun to pack or make door magnets, I did buy a few small things for fish extenders but looks like I may need more....what a pain if our luggage is lost...no one will appreciate all those magnets and small tokens...must look on the positive side!

A quick look on the negative side first....the last time this crazy volcano erupted was in the early 1800's..it spewed for 2 years...should I be worried?

As an aside, I completed the Wild Tour at Cumberland Caverns, I had NO intention of doing it, but another mom (scouting troop) decided to go for it and I'm not one to be the last one chickening out...so I climbed into a 4foot by 4 foot by 10 inch box to prove that I could work my way through the 'tight spot' on the tour...OPERATIVE word, tight SPOT!! So 32 of us went on a 2 hour tour through a cave...20% of the tour had about 18" on either side of you as you worked your way around rock..60% of the tour was spent on your BELLY army crawling through mud caked cave walls and that tight SPOT they talked about was actually more like 250 feet of a straw you had to siphen yourself through...(broken up into 10-20' chunks at a time) but now every muscle in my body that had to be used to rebirth myself out of these crevaces are SCREAMING at me....4 Aleve had no effect (or did they?)...mark the WiLD tour as something I will NEVER do again. The other 20% I can't remember, just my mind thinking, when will we get out of here???

Did I mention, I'm highly claustrophobic?

I will be able to focus on this trip by next Sunday, huge event I'm helping to organize happening on Friday/Saturday...my world will return to some normalcy after that...hoping by then this ash will be in the past!!

I will add that according to travelguard (their gold plan) if I had to cash in on my travel insurance policy, and somehow had to rebook to an airline that had opened flights, and say it cost me $3000...the travel insurance would pay up to 150% of the cost of the original trip...so for our family it's only $1500 pp so having to pay $3000 to get everyone there would cost us lots of $$$$'s to make it happen...here's hoping everyone's airline opens flights and there is little stress!!


Again, much for all those 24 April Med travelers...here's to easy planning issues over the next few days!!!

Mrs. T

 

[lmhall2000]

PORT TRANSFERS

Erring on the side of positivity, I went ahead and booked my transfers from the airport to the port..I used A2BTransfers...you book online, for a family of 7 it cost $59 US...if we had tried to use Barcelona taxis, it would have been around $100 US...(1.1 euro per kilometer, it's about 20 something kilometers to the port, then they add on a 2.1 euro PER PERSON for a port transfer cost, and then 1 euro per bag they put in the trunk..with us it would be about 7 euros..and seeing how the max number of people in a Barcelona taxi is 4..we would have to have 2 taxis....adding that up it would be close to 40 euro per taxi..converting to US would be about $100) soo....I'll report how well the transfer worked out for us...we booked a minibus that fits 7.

I'm kind of concerned on the return b/c we need to leave the hotel at 4:00 in the morning to get to our flight at 6:30am...hotel will not provide shuttle at that time...so hoping A2B can, emailed them so hopefully will hear back...

Oh! I got our insurance through TravelGuard it was their Gold policy that has much more coverage than Silver and no deductibles...it ran about $330...the cheapest I found was $277...but not much coverage...so splurged the extra $60 hoping we won't need to use it!

Moving forward!

Mrs. T

 

[PURTYPAT1]

OH MY!! I have warned my family about the scammers and pickpocketers, I did just buy a 'thief' proof bag from Overstock.com..the straps can not be cut and even I have a hard time figuring out how to get in the purse!! We have money belts, but even with those I hate people seeing me take them off at the check in lines at the airport....we don't have much money, so maybe they'll just steal my bargain bag where I'll just keep snacks for the kids! Thanks so much for the tips!!

I don't know about the booklets...what are those?? Would love details! I'm making a book for both my girls and a little fun thing to give to other kids on our fish extender group.

I got the airfare for around $800....it was $707 but then you had to add in taxes....much better than the $1100 I kept seeing! I did get a great deal on Priceline for the Hesperia hotel....just around $80 for each room....not bad!!

I have soo much going on these next two weeks, I just don't see how it'll all get done!! I had done so well staying on the treadmill and losing weight I put on from stress of having 2 house payments for over 2 years...then the stress of not finding airline tickets sidetracked me...had hoped to be in 2 sizes smaller, but only managing one size smaller, but just one more step to being in better health again!

I'm headed out to do some major dirt moving, hope I can get it done, the pool is supposed to get it's final coat Saturday and need to move all dirt from the edge of pool...aagh! I have about 12 hours of computer work to do for an upcoming tournament I'm helping run for the kids...it's just an onslaught of busy busy busy....forget packing/laundry/dishes!! my kitchen is a mess!! And my trash is reeking of the half banana I had yesterday....need to take the trash out!!!

Thank you all for your support and encouragment!! I hope those planning their Med or first cruise can save themselves some trouble through my errors!

Mrs. T

Congrat's on your great airfare!!!! We paid the same a few years ago on our Med cruise. You did great.

I remember we hired Angie's taxi in Barcelona to take from the port to the airport. We did it on line and her prices were great.

Disney Magic gave each child a leather like book filled with pages and information (child like) in each port. Each port, had a scavenger hunt and a clue for them to find in the ship for there book. The kids read the clues and had to find the answer hidden in the Magic. Guest service would stamp there book. It gave them fun facts about the cities, showing maps flags facts information about each country, & even word search and a place to put photos. It was really nice. I hope they still have this for the kids.

Smart that you are walking. We did alot of walking on ours. I was surprised on how many people could not keep up.

Hope this helps

 

[lmhall2000]

Life is Moving on!!

The last few weeks have been filled with stress/activity/demands of all sorts...the speech and debate tournament I reluctantly volunteered to help run finished last night with a wonderful finish...so proud of all those gifted students! The pool was finished yesterday as well, it's filling up as we speak!!!

I can now focus on what is our first family vacation in almost 5 years!! Well, that's after today's wedding shower I go to! One of my flower girls in our wedding is getting married in 1 month!! WOW!!

Need to exchange some euros and get packing!! Can't wait to see the Med!!!

Will share all our experiences when we return, praying the Volcano is resting!

Let's go MED!!!!

Tara

 

[pixie08]

Hi Tara,

I am just subscribing. I can't wait to read your reports. You must be so excited and stressed but it will all be worth it!

 

[lmhall2000]

IMPACT in T-4 days!!

I am probably as laid back as they get, but for some reason, this vacation is taking it out of me. There is such a huge responsibility making sure I've covered all the bases...let me help those who are planning (now mind you, I don't create Excel spreadsheets for organization, but I do try and hit the bases)

1. Coordinate all the clothing for 5 people
2. Buy sundries...toothpaste, dramamine, gold bond for boys...
3. Make Fish Extender
4. Have enough gifts for fish extenders.
5. Make magnets for door (may be our only cruise, we're making the most of it!)
6. Store up on dog, cat, and horse food
7. Clean house for house sitters
8. Make list for house sitters (how to work remote, numbers to call for emergencies, this is a long list)
9. Buy stuff for pool that needs to be added while we're gone
10. Find all copies of reservations/numbers for hotel/transportation
11. Order euros to pay for tour guide/Pompeii Guide/miscellaneous
12. Pack camera cord and phone cord
13. Pack camera and phone
14. Stop mail for 2 weeks
15. Pay bills
16. Help son catch up on Biology he'll miss
17. Pack 3 pairs of shoes for 5 people
18. Find some cheap sunglasses
19. Bring all signed papers that will probably be left on the desk, know I'll forget these
20. Bring passports, again fear I'll forget these
21. Make copies of passport to put in each suitcase
22. Find enough rubberbands for both girls' hair
23. Find hairbrushes
24. Bring hairdryer....bring insurance cards...bring travel insurance documents
25. Bring snacks (peanuts/goldfish) for those times when they're dying for food and our hotel charges $48 for a cheeseburger
26. Don't forget to smile, we're supposed to be on vacation...

So much to do in 4 days, last day to burn dead tree pile is tomorrow..if we don't set the outbuildings on fire, I can get started on packing then...or at least organizing the house so I can find the stuff we need to pack and taking inventory...it really shouldn't be this complicated!! Thanks everyone for the great support! Will do my best to save you money and time on your next cruise!

Mrs. T