We'’re out of it! A summer 14 “MAGICal” Med adventure Day 14/Aug 05 updated 05/05

[jedijill]

OMG​

I will do replies later, but just had to share.

For the last few months I have been stalking Lufthansa's page for the release of Premium Economy. But it looked like it was not going to happen before our summer trip, so 10 days ago I bought regular economy airfare for our summer trip. It was just SO expensive, but usually Lufthansa prices do not go down and it had gone up already, so I bit the bullet and booked the two of us.

Guess what, today I got an email letting us know that they now offer Premium Economy for our trip. I was floored - it was the exact same price as I had paid but since I had booked the lowest category (which cost an arm and a leg in the first place) I was not sure if we were allowed to upgrade or how much they would charge for it.
So, as soon as I got home I got on the phone and called their service line. The girl on the phone was really helpful, but it still took half an hour to figure everything out and now we are flying


PREMIUM ECONOMY


which will not only give us 50% more legroom, only two seats instead of three next to each other, a special menu served on china plates, a welcome drink , plus ........... 2 free bags each.
And the other good thing ........ not only will it be not more expensive than what we had already booked for, but they are even refunding what I had paid for the emergency exit seats, so it is actually cheaper flying Premium Economy instead of regular economy.
To say that I am VERY excited is an understatement. ​

Woot Woot! Congrats!

Jill in CO

 

[KatMark]

OMG​

I will do replies later, but just had to share.

For the last few months I have been stalking Lufthansa's page for the release of Premium Economy. But it looked like it was not going to happen before our summer trip, so 10 days ago I bought regular economy airfare for our summer trip. It was just SO expensive, but usually Lufthansa prices do not go down and it had gone up already, so I bit the bullet and booked the two of us.

Guess what, today I got an email letting us know that they now offer Premium Economy for our trip. I was floored - it was the exact same price as I had paid but since I had booked the lowest category (which cost an arm and a leg in the first place) I was not sure if we were allowed to upgrade or how much they would charge for it.
So, as soon as I got home I got on the phone and called their service line. The girl on the phone was really helpful, but it still took half an hour to figure everything out and now we are flying


PREMIUM ECONOMY


which will not only give us 50% more legroom, only two seats instead of three next to each other, a special menu served on china plates, a welcome drink , plus ........... 2 free bags each.
And the other good thing ........ not only will it be not more expensive than what we had already booked for, but they are even refunding what I had paid for the emergency exit seats, so it is actually cheaper flying Premium Economy instead of regular economy.
To say that I am VERY excited is an understatement. ​

Congratulations!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Okay, before I post another update I need to let you know that in exactly 6 months from today we will be travelling again!



Yes, in 6 months from today we will celebrate Tom's 50th by flying to the US and taking another cruise.

Guess, I better start planning this trip soon, so we can share the details with you all. ​

Did I miss the link to the PTR's for Tom's birthday and summer 2015? I have SO much catching up to do...going to do lots of reading the next couple of days and will be all caught up. Do not want to miss a new TPR though!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

OMG​

I will do replies later, but just had to share.

For the last few months I have been stalking Lufthansa's page for the release of Premium Economy. But it looked like it was not going to happen before our summer trip, so 10 days ago I bought regular economy airfare for our summer trip. It was just SO expensive, but usually Lufthansa prices do not go down and it had gone up already, so I bit the bullet and booked the two of us.

Guess what, today I got an email letting us know that they now offer Premium Economy for our trip. I was floored - it was the exact same price as I had paid but since I had booked the lowest category (which cost an arm and a leg in the first place) I was not sure if we were allowed to upgrade or how much they would charge for it.
So, as soon as I got home I got on the phone and called their service line. The girl on the phone was really helpful, but it still took half an hour to figure everything out and now we are flying


PREMIUM ECONOMY


which will not only give us 50% more legroom, only two seats instead of three next to each other, a special menu served on china plates, a welcome drink , plus ........... 2 free bags each.
And the other good thing ........ not only will it be not more expensive than what we had already booked for, but they are even refunding what I had paid for the emergency exit seats, so it is actually cheaper flying Premium Economy instead of regular economy.
To say that I am VERY excited is an understatement. ​

Absolutely fantabulous!!!! Happy, happy, happy for you!!

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Great news on the flight.......... for Premium Economy!!!

 

[pas130]

YAY for Premium economy!! AND a refund

 

[jenseib]

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, as I said before, I've been telling my boss about your Barcelona adventures and he's enjoyed remembering his past trips there through your report.

Your food pictures are always so good but those tapas looked amazing! I wish that there were some sort of restaurant like that around here.

They were really wonderful. We were so lucky to have found that restaurant.

Oh my goodness, I can't believe what the port looked like. It does not compare in any way, shape or form to what Port Canaveral looks like. I'd have been in shock too.

I knew it would not be like Port Canaveral, but I just was not prepared for this.

The light fixture in the atrium is kind of neat but it's certainly not as gorgeous as the other fixtures on the other ships.

It might look neat in the photos, but it just looks so cheap. I just LOVE all the other glass light fixtures on the DCL ships, this one just wasn't up to par.

Well, as you know, we originally booked a Med and moved ot the S. Carribean due to the price tag. The Med prices (summer DCL prices in general) are insane.

I knew it would come with a price tag and once we had our heart set on it, we bit the bullet. I have always had to pay premium prices as we always sail at the height of the seaon. And after the initial shock we made peace with it. If only that cruise had not had so many glitches.

That is so unfortunate, it is odd as we felt like we had the exact opposite. I had to go to guest services twice and in each event they followed up multiple times and even with multiple people! Forgetting to make up your room? That is unacceptable and add to that a smelly bathroom and wet carpets in your hallway? That would have definitely colored the entire experience.

When we had "some rain" in our stateroom, they did react quickly and we even had another call from guest services, but itwas what the maintenance guy told us that put us off. There was nothing that GS would have been able to do.
Now, our stateroom host skipping our room was something else. And no, we did not go to GSs, we just forgot to leave him his goody bag for the next few days.

We spent almost no time in any of the bars, we really lived on our verandah in the evenings with a drink.

We don't go out much, while we are at home. Tom starts work at 5am, so has to be up at 4am, so late nights are not an option. So, while on vacation we really enjoy sitting in one of the bars enjoying a drink, listening to music and just chatting or making new friends.
We did have a well stocked fridge, but mostly with beer for Tom and Diet Coke for myself. We do not bring hard liquour to spike our drinks. We do run a hefty bar bill instead.

We had John as our captain. We didn't order room service so I can't speak to that and in general didn't get much from the self service (I've never been overwhelmed with those on any of the ships, nor the buffet) so can't speak much to that either.

Ah, we really like John, even though I remember much of him. He was the captain during our first Wonder cruise and it was nice getting to meet him.
Well, we really like the wraps and Tom had quite a few hot dogs from the pool deck quick service and it was always quite good quality. I think a lot of it has to do with catering in Europe and different standards. But it still does not excuse cold "hot" sandwiches and stale items.

excursions are always a bit of a wildcard no matter who you book through.

I did not book through Disney, but have done so before and they were always pretty good. Being on European soil we felt a lot more at ease with booking private tours and we had some pretty awesome excursions.

Karin I hope the Disney Magic was everything you hoped it would be. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Unfortunately it was not. But we still had a good time.

That brioche muffin sounds like the perfect breakfast pastry.

OMG - it was SO good. I wish they had something like it here.

The waiting area kind of looks like what a recovery area after a disaster would look like. Very strange.

I just was not prepared of HOW different it would look from Port Canaveral. It just did not feel like Disney to me.

You're right, the chandelier is far from grand, unlike the Dream and Fantasy. Just odd looking.

It just looked so cheap, especially if you knew how grand the chandeliers on the Wonder, Dream and Fantasy are.

Glad you were able to make all your changes for Palo Dinner and Palo Brunch even though brunch is 2 days in a row.

That was something I was seriously worried about. Being able to change our dinner. They changed Pirate night pretty late in the game and that was the only menu I was willing to skip.
Oh, and I'll let you in on a little secret. That second brunch did not work for us in the end.

Can't wait to see your stateroom!

Stateroom pics, including CC gifts coming up soon.

 

[perfectmatch300]

Karen, awesome upgrade on your flights! I'm sure it will make your trip much more comfortable.

We sail tomorrow at 4PM on the Caribbean Princess from Port Everglades. We are way forward this time, our balcony is below and just behind the bridge. It will be the first time for us to be anywhere other than an aft balcony. We may get lost trying to find our cabin! We will be waving at the Port Everglades webcam.


Since I won't be able to keep up for the next 6 days, it's ok with me if you write real slow! All right, I know the rest of your readers still want to hear from you, so I'll catch up when we get home.

My countdown clock here already says SAILED!

Nancy

 

[dizneeat]

I am not a bit fan of the new light fixture either.

I am glad we are not the only ones.

I do like the carpeting though. It does seem so much smaller after being on the Dream. When I first saw the atrium....I was like wow it's tiny, but I got used to it fast.

Same here. It did feel pretty small when we got on board, but "grew" on us pretty soon.

Definitely parts of the ship are redone and nice...and many others were not touched at all. We still had rust on our balcony.

Ours had rust as well, but they had painted the veranda doors. How I can tell? They still had parts of the protective tape on the glass.

I hear you on the terminal too. Just going out of Port Everglades, it was very much like a warehouse too...but I was actually surprised that it was better than I thought it would be. I sailed out of Miami a couple of time many years ago and those were like big garages.

We knew it would not be anything like Port Canaveral, but we just had not imagined it to be like THAT. Not what really gets you into the Disney spirit. Add to that kids screaming at the top of their lungs and you are in for a treat.

you are on the ship.

YES!!!!!! We had been so looking forward to this cruise and it was about to set sail .......

That is THE ugliest fixture I have seen in my entire 56 years.

I really wonder what they did with the blown glass original one. It was truely beautiful.

I'm glad you were able to change your one reservation and able to add another brunch.

We really like to have Palo on Pirate night as we do not like the menu much. And since Palo dinner was on Mickey we really did not want to loose it.

Wow the waiting area reminded me of a school cafeteria interesting chandelier...

However, you and Tom are on the boat..I see some yummy food, and I am ready for happy stuff Karin

We had great excursions planned and all but one were really awesome. There are some great pics to come.

Did I see UO in mid-August...... might our paths FINALLY cross ??? my dates aren't locked in for UO yet...but we will be in Orlando!!!

YES, that's right! At the moment I am planning on three nights at RP (for the Express Pass). We will spend the week before our first cruise in Orlando and it would be awesome to meet up.
Oh, and I hope your kids are allowed some sweets - as I now have 4 suitcases I can fill with "fun" stuff.

 

[dizneeat]

Woot Woot! Congrats!

Jill in CO

Thanks, Jill!

Congratulations!

Thanks, Kathy!

Did I miss the link to the PTR's for Tom's birthday and summer 2015? I have SO much catching up to do...going to do lots of reading the next couple of days and will be all caught up. Do not want to miss a new TPR though!

Hi Christine!
Great to hae you back here.
I am planning on kind of doing the PTR for Tom's birthday trip within this TR. There will be extra links to it on the first page. Just have not gotten around to start it yet, even though we are only 160 days out.
But I want to finish my February TR first and I still have to wrap up my 2013 summer trip as well.

If you stay with us here, you won't miss a thing.

Absolutely fantabulous!!!! Happy, happy, happy for you!!

Thank you, Christine! I am still checking the reservation page to be reassured I am not dreaming.

 

[dizneeat]

Great news on the flight.......... for Premium Economy!!!

Thanks, Marv!

YAY for Premium economy!! AND a refund

Thanks, Jeanette! .... I just LOVE refunds.

Thanks, Jen!

 

[dizneeat]

Karen, awesome upgrade on your flights! I'm sure it will make your trip much more comfortable.

Thanks, Nancy! It sure helps, especially as it is a 9+ hours flight. Every inch more space is wonderful.

We sail tomorrow at 4PM on the Caribbean Princess from Port Everglades. We are way forward this time, our balcony is below and just behind the bridge. It will be the first time for us to be anywhere other than an aft balcony. We may get lost trying to find our cabin! We will be waving at the Port Everglades webcam.

Another trip for you. I sure will watch the Port Everglades webcam.
I am sure you will love the location of your cabin. And I hope you won't get lost as often as I did on the Magic. Don't know, but with the smaller ship I kind of lost my orientation.

Since I won't be able to keep up for the next 6 days, it's ok with me if you write real slow! All right, I know the rest of your readers still want to hear from you, so I'll catch up when we get home.

Oh, no problem with updating slow (even though I hope to get a bit done this weekend). Knowing me it might take some time between updates.

My countdown clock here already says SAILED!

Nancy

Have fun on your cruise! Where are you going - I know you are gone for 6 days - but WHERE are you going?

 

[franandaj]

That's fantastic news about the premium economy flights! I'm so happy for you that you will be comfortable in your seats and have free bags, plus nice china service, and all for less money!

 

[Poolrat]

All caught up.

Love the breakfast before boarding but not the Port so much. It looks like a disaster shelter.

I agree that the chandelier looks awful. Not appropriate for a deluxe cruise ship.

I hate that you have what sounds like some major issues with your stateroom. I am sorry.

Happy for your upgrade and refund for the next trip!!!

 

[dizneeat]

That's fantastic news about the premium economy flights! I'm so happy for you that you will be comfortable in your seats and have free bags, plus nice china service, and all for less money!

Thank you!
I am most thankful for the space as sitting in those narrow spaces for 10 hours is NO fun and the extra bag. Staying for four weeks, we bring A LOT of stuff with us.

All caught up.

Yeah!

Love the breakfast before boarding but not the Port so much. It looks like a disaster shelter.

Disaster shelter - well, that hits the nail on the head! In all honesty, we were prepared that it would not be Port Canaveral, but that was a bit much.

I agree that the chandelier looks awful. Not appropriate for a deluxe cruise ship.

They had a beautiful hand made Italian glass one. NO idea why they did away with it.

I hate that you have what sounds like some major issues with your stateroom. I am sorry.

We did have a lot of issues, and while we could have lived with them, the more we looked the more they added up. I know we should have let it go, but for the price tag they had put on this cruise we were just not happy.

Happy for your upgrade and refund for the next trip!!!

We are so happy about it. I cannot believe that we are actually paying less and flying in a higher class.
And getting a refund from the airlines here in Europe is not the usual thing.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 4, July 26

Where’s the magic? - Part 2

Once we had found our stateroom we tapped our Key To The World Cards towards the scanner and opened the door.
The room looked a bit different, but it felt familiar and we were happy to be “home”. We took a look at the new gifts





we had gotten and headed out onto the veranda. This is when we noticed the first of many things that were not really “ship shape”. The handle of our veranda door would just move half of the way it was supposed to and you had to actually lock the lock to keep the door completely shut. And we had thought the ship had just been in dry dock and completely overhauled. After having had a good look around and enjoying the view from the veranda we decided to head out again. But first we needed a restroom break. There was a funny smell in the bathroom when I entered, but the ventilation was running and I thought it might just be resolved soon. Well, I could not have been more wrong. But for the moment I forgot about it and Tom and I headed up to the top deck to explore more of the ship and its surroundings.



































And after wandering around the top deck for a while we decided to stop in at the Cove Café for a nice cup of coffee.



Tom just wanted a Cappuccino, while I had my heart set on the Frozen Cappuccino 1/3 Espresso blended with vanilla ice cream. When the server came to take our order we asked to have it served in a china cup as we were going nowhere, but it was really hard work to talk him into it. He kept saying that a Styrofoam cup would hold more of it, but we both just don’t like the taste of a drink out of such a cup. In the end he just shrugged his shoulders and about 10 minutes later came back with our drinks in a china cup and a tall glass.









The taste test revealed that they both were really good and we were two happy bunnies. We took our sweet time to finish our drinks before heading back to our stateroom before it was time for the lifeboat drill.

To be continued ..........​

 

[Teri1]

Great news about your Summer flights. I will have to try that frozen coffee sounds good with ice cream. Wondering if you tried the Aquadunk.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Not exactly the ideal room situation to start that Disney magic flowing for you, especially after the "bare bones" waiting area, and being welcomed by that beautiful chandelier. The tour of the ship and your drinks looked really wonderful! I'm guessing a "bad" day on a Disney cruise is better than a great day at work though.........

I'm guessing such loyal Disney Cruisers will have their issues handled quickly.......at least I hope so!

 

[Flossbolna]

A friend who has cruised a lot told me that this was one of the things that Disney did differently when they started cruising out of PC: having a really nice cruise terminal. Until then it was industry standard to start your expensive cruise out of a former port warehouse. Unfortunately Barcelona still seems to do things old school...

As far as I know the old chandelier is somewhere in storage. However, it was never glass (at least according to the CM who did our Art of the Theme Tour on the Disney Wonder). It was originally designed in glass, but then copied in plastic and the plastic versions are what was installed on the Magic and the Wonder. I am very happy that the Wonder still has hers, but am afraid that it will go in the coming refurb. I am also no fan of the taking one staircase out. I think it makes the atrium look unfinished. The Dream and Fantasy atriums were designed with one staircase, that's why it fits there. But this is only the impression I get from the pictures!

I had to laugh about your troubles to get the coffee served in a cup! I have had the same issues! However, on the PC cruise there seemed to be a lot of people asking for a real cup, I heard some doing that, so I felt less exotic!

And thanks for your PM - my week has been totally busy, I will reply soon!