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

[JKSWonder]

Great! Just when we leave for the first of our two cruises.
My window for ADRs for the first week opened a few days ago and I have not made one single ADR yet. Just can't get myself to commit to anything yet. We'll see where we end up, but then I am not after some hard to get restaurants, so we should be fine.

Yes, we will just miss you.

I was recently reading a dining report by someone who went to WDW for a week with absolutely no ADR's booked at all and they managed to get some great reservations just by checking online the day of, including places like California Grill, Flying Fish and lots of others that you would think would be impossible to obtain. I'm not sure I would ever to be that brave to just go with the flow and see what happens, but it seemed to work out pretty well for her and her family of 3.

 

[dizneeat]

Yes, we will just miss you.

I was recently reading a dining report by someone who went to WDW for a week with absolutely no ADR's booked at all and they managed to get some great reservations just by checking online the day of, including places like California Grill, Flying Fish and lots of others that you would think would be impossible to obtain. I'm not sure I would ever to be that brave to just go with the flow and see what happens, but it seemed to work out pretty well for her and her family of 3.

We have changed our reservations quite often, even day of, when this was still allowed.
You have to be flexible where you want to eat, but it is very doable. And for us, not getting a reservation is an opportunity to venture off site. That is as much an experience for us than eating onsite.

 

[KatMark]

Angora looks lovely. So glad that you enjoyed your hour at the museum. It always helps having an enthusiastic guide.

Ahhh...your two favorite side-kicks before a show again. I'm not a Beatles fan, but glad you enjoyed the show.

Your shrimp dish and that chocolate cake look heavenly.

 

[Leshaface]

I'm sooo glad that this tour worked out splendidly for you and Tom. And dinner looks amazing! Octopus salad?! Sign me up!

Okay, sorry, I was a bit nosey but i'm so so so sad to read your comment about you considering selling your DVC For you to even think that must have been hard. I know it's not official, but does that mean no more Disney trips, or just paying cash for hotels at resorts and still visiting WDW every once in a while??

 

[dizneeat]

Angora looks lovely. So glad that you enjoyed your hour at the museum. It always helps having an enthusiastic guide.

Ahhh...your two favorite side-kicks before a show again. I'm not a Beatles fan, but glad you enjoyed the show.

Your shrimp dish and that chocolate cake look heavenly.

We were very impressed with the Agora. And the museum was so interesting.

Dinner was yummy - and we had worked up an appetite on the tour.

I'm sooo glad that this tour worked out splendidly for you and Tom. And dinner looks amazing! Octopus salad?! Sign me up!

That tour was the complete opposite of the one we had in Rome. It was an awesome day, even though it was soooooooo hot. And that was one really yummy dinner that day!

Okay, sorry, I was a bit nosey but i'm so so so sad to read your comment about you considering selling your DVC For you to even think that must have been hard. I know it's not official, but does that mean no more Disney trips, or just paying cash for hotels at resorts and still visiting WDW every once in a while??

You know, it kind of hit myself to find myself thinking about it. And I guess last year's summer vacation is to blame.
We obviously don't own long enough to be able to sell without a hitch (thanks to Flossbolna, who gave me a few hints), so we will stick with it for a while. I am just not sure if we will continue with our trips the way we did them.
Airfare from Europe, especially if you have to always travel at the height of the season costs even a bit more than an arm and a leg, so when we can then we stay for at least 4 weeks. Now we have always had an AP as this worked perfectly well, with us going twice a year.
Now with the new FP+ and our way to travel (means - spend a few days at Disney, travel somewhere else, go on a cruise, back to Disney, aso) we will only get 7 days worth of FP+ no matter how long we stay at Disney. And that kind of takes the steam out of our travel plans. I can only do IASW so many times and I guess having to schedule those FP+ a few days before (we would have to use up day 1 of the 7 days before we would get another) will not leave us a lot of choice. So to answer your question. I am pretty sure we will return, not sure on how many cruises there will be and I guess we will do a week of Disney and then go somewhere else.
It's a pity as we have been known for staying on property for 6 weeks in a row and just heading to Sea World, Universal, Daytona for a day and spend the night at a park. Guess those days are gone.

 

[jenseib]

I can't believe how far behind I got...I blame these new boards.

This tour sounds amazing...I am really surprised the others wanted to go back to the ship though. I know it's hot, but how often will they ever visit a place like this again?

LOVE this!!!!!

Guess I am going to shock you even more now. With all that is going on at Disney, ticket prices over $100 for a single ticket, FP+ restrictions for AP holders come to mind, we are not only considering giving other cruise lines a go, I have even considered (and am really thinking about) getting rid of our DVC. There are other great places to visit and if Disney does not want my money I can happily take it somewhere else.

Thats so sad....but I understand in a way. Disney is really not thinking things through lately. I had a conversation with a tech person on the phone telling her some issues with the FP+ and she kept praising it...and when I would ask about an issue she was really good at twisting it around to make it sound great...and I would tell her that isn't solving my problem and she would never answer why or how. They have these CM's trained to sound positive.
As for the FP+...I don't have an AP, so I would have to look more, but I thought that you could do 7 days and if you changed hotels you could then do 7 more days...is that not the case?
Don't get me started on the ticket prices....UGH!

 

[dizneeat]

I can't believe how far behind I got...I blame these new boards.

It took a bit of getting used to, but I really enjoy them now!

This tour sounds amazing...I am really surprised the others wanted to go back to the ship though. I know it's hot, but how often will they ever visit a place like this again?

The tour was really wonderful. Such great and knowledgeable people, both our guide and driver, they made it so easy to follow along. And we were surprised too that so many people gave up, but charging by the family that was with us on that tour, their kids were moaning even before we had walked up to the Acropolis and they never listened to what our guide told us.

Thats so sad....but I understand in a way. Disney is really not thinking things through lately. I had a conversation with a tech person on the phone telling her some issues with the FP+ and she kept praising it...and when I would ask about an issue she was really good at twisting it around to make it sound great...and I would tell her that isn't solving my problem and she would never answer why or how. They have these CM's trained to sound positive.
As for the FP+...I don't have an AP, so I would have to look more, but I thought that you could do 7 days and if you changed hotels you could then do 7 more days...is that not the case?
Don't get me started on the ticket prices....UGH!

We really did think about it quite a bit as up to now having DVC really fit our style of travelling. Now, with the FP+ reduction for the AP it no longer does make so much sense. Tom and I were discussing the FP+ situation this afternoon and it leads me to believe that sooner or later Disney will follow UOs example of selling FPs.
We just love the fact that if you stay onsite at UO you get the UE free of charge. What an incentive to stay there. Disney no longer offers that incentive. With the length of stay we will need to have an AP and since I can only have 7 FP+ days at any time we can very easily stay offsite now and save a ton of money.

As for your question on the AP and FP+. After you told me that a new resort would open new FP+ options we were both so happy. I then subscribed to a few FP+ threads and soon found AP holders moaning as they could only get 7 FP+ days at a time no matter how long you stayed somewhere. So I wrote to GS and here is their answer:



Dear Karin,



Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort.



You are correct that you may make your Fast Pass+ selections 60 days in advance. You may schedule and possess 7 days worth of Fast Pass+ selections (or up to the number of days on a continuous length of stay at the same Walt Disney World® Resort hotel). So, if you have 7 days worth from your first stay in August, you will need to wait for days to fall off and pass by before MyDisneyExperience will allow you to make any FastPass+ selections for September.


Given how fast the E-ticket attraction FP+ go away I can see us stuck with IASW and Figment. And for as cute as they are they are not worth the hassle to go through the FP+ process.

 

[dizneeat]

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Day 11, August 2

Kusadasi, Ephesus and more“ - Part 1


While we were sleeping, the ship had sailed to the port of Kusadasi in Turkey.
Now that was one port we did not know much about and only when we did a bit more research we learned about its cultural background. I had been torn about what tour to book and this turned out to be our second private tour. I had found a tour company that was not too expensive and had quite good reviews on tripadvisor.
But this being Turkey, I still had doubts. Oh well, we would see. So after we had gotten up we peeked out on the veranda and saw that the ship was already close to the port.

We got ready, then went to Cariocas for breakfast. By now we had gotten used to lukewarm breakfasts and had made peace with the fact that there would not be any real nice table service breakfasts on port days. I had gotten pretty much the same I had had every day, while Tom had decided to opt for an omelet that day.

Once we had finished our breakfast we headed back to our stateroom, picked up our bags for the day and the voucher we had gotten for the tour and off we went. Didn’t take long and we were off the ship and waiting for our guide.
Hm, we looked around, but didn’t see any one.
So after a few minutes we decided to head a bit further into the port area and we walk around a corner and there was our guide, holding up a sign with our name on it, in hand. He was young and his English was very good and he told us that our driver was waiting outside the port, so we all got going. Now, so far we had only had a shared tour, this one was really a private one. Not knowing what we were in for, we followed the leader out through the shopping area that is right in front of the port and then we went a few steps and into a side street.
There a mini bus was waiting for us. The driver got out to greet us, we climbed in and within a few seconds we were on our way. Our guide started briefing us right away. There were several things along the way and he gave us a choice of stopping or not. We went past the first one, a statue of the Virgin Mary without stopping and went on to Mary’s house.
Honestly we had not had any idea that Mary’s House had been there, only when I had read about it on the tour site I started to research. So this was our first stop. There were already a few buses and mini buses, but the parking area seemed quite empty. We followed our guide and he took care of the entrance fees, then leading us around the area, explaining what we were seeing and then told us that we had half an hour to explore on our own and to let him know if we needed more time, but half an hour would be perfect timing to make it to Ephesus before the masses would arrive. We told him that we thought that we would have enough time there and then started to walk around on our own.

First off we passed the statue of the Virgin Mary

and an open area which was prepared for a mass.

Then we went to her actual house, which was small and dark, but filled with wonderful artifacts and is still used for church services.

Once we had looked around we walked over to the area where you could light candles

and we bought some to light as well.

Then we followed the path over to the wall of wishes.

People fix little snippets of paper with their wishes onto the wall and it was impressive to see how many wishes there actually were.

We wandered around a bit more

and were surprised by how much the crowds had picked up, then stopped in one of the gift shops and we still had 10 minutes to kill.


To be continued ..........​

 

[dizneeat]

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Day 11, August 2


Kusadasi, Ephesus and more“ - Part 2


We wandered around a bit more and were surprised by how much the crowds had picked up, then stopped in one of the gift shops and we still had 10 minutes to kill.

Since we did not see our guide we just decided to stop by the restaurant and get a coffee.
Tom got some

Turkish Coffee, while I stuck with an

Espresso and we picked a round

Turkish bread and a piece of

Baklava. Both were fresh and very tasty and we enjoyed our time sitting there watching busloads of tourists come in.
And we smiled whenever we saw one of the Disney paddles, as seeing how many people were following, it had been a good idea to go with that private tour.
Once we had finished our coffee and pastries we asked for the bill and were shocked.
I think I asked about 5 times if that could be the correct price.
The server went and got a menu to show us and he had not made a mistake.



The price for all of this was UNDER 4 Euros.


It was just unbelievably cheap. Needless to say we tipped the server well, then headed to the meeting point to meet with our guide and then walked back to our vehicle. We were more than just stunned when we saw how full the parking lot had gotten.
So we quickly got into our seats and off we went again, this time to ruins of Ephesus.
Again, our driver let us get off at the entrance, then told us that he would pick us up at the exit and with a wave he hit the road. Our guide went to pick up the tickets while we waited and watched bus loads of tourists head to the the entrance as well. ​

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With our guide we were able to enter through an unused side entrance and we started our walk. This was actually the second entrance and our guide thought that since it would become pretty hot, it would be better to walk down to the main entrance, than up to where we were now. ​

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Funnily enough the first thing we saw was our friend Bobbie, who we had asked to join us on our tour, but her travel agent had signed her up for a great tour with a lot of other people. We quickly said hello, then turned and went to the first settlement. ​

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And who should we see there, our friend Bobbie’s daughter, Connie, who had lost her group and was now searching around. We pointed her in the right direction and went on our way. ​

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All the ruins were pretty impressive, given that they date so far back. ​

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To be continued ..........​

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[LuvEeyore]

Great updates!! Athens is beautiful. It sounds like you had a great tour and DIS meet.
I know the rate hikes for Disney are frustrating. However I am also noticing rate hikes for everything except gas in the US. My insurance copays have gone up, the cost of foods is increasing, the hotels I stay at when I travel to see my God daughter are going up as well.

 

[LuvEeyore]

I guess I was posting while you were posting a new update. I love those cats!! You seem to do really well at getting your own tours. I have done that as well and usually do really well. They are often less expensive and not the massive number of people. When we cruised Alaska, In Juneau I rented a minivan and the rental company gave us a list of where to go when and we managed to be leaving when the buses pulled up!

 

[Flossbolna]

Ephesus seems to be quite amazing!! I have been wanting to travel to Turkey for quite some time (not for the beach, but for some real sightseeing), but it is one of those destinations that never make it all the way to the top! Going for a private tour was certainly the smart thing to do there, I guess you will have seen far more that way.

I am still not sold on a cruise as a vacation where I am going to see a lot of sights though. I think I love to explore more on my own speed if I really want to explore. I love cruising for the relaxation and maybe getting some interesting glimpses. But not as a substitute for a land trip.

 

[pas130]

Been MIA forever Karin, and I think I'm figuring out the new DIS. Will we still see you in August, any changes on your end? We aren't doing US anymore but we will be at BC 8/14-22. Fingers crossed we will overlap!!!! Sorry again I was busy with school, work, kids, and I get on FB but haven't been able to do much more than lurk on the DIS.

 

[DnA2010]

Mmm I like Turkish coffee, and how many to have the cats lounging around!!

 

[linetbo]

As usual I enjoy your reports, cant wait to see your next report on our cruise in March!!!

 

[debsters41]

Hi Karin and Tom! I have finally caught up! I haven't really had time to play around with the 'new' Dis and I don't like that I am not getting emails anymore but I will figure it out when I have time

I am shocked about the tour in Rome, You didn't have time to tell us about that because you were letting us know about the ordeals on the Magic! (Our cruise was ok, and I am really looking forward to seeing what other cruise lines are offering for 2016 (any recommendations?)

I had I feeling what was coming when I read about Tom needing a glo cube... I am still utterly embarrassed and promise never to visit a bar after a Tequila tasting again....

Ephesus looks amazing but I don't know if I can get my hubby to agree to go there.. (roll eyes smilie here..... I will learn them soon)

Don't forget I am boarding a RCL cruise on the 16th so if you are up for a meet on your arrival day I would love to see you!!!!

Oh, and judging from your comments I guess I no longer need to feel bad that I forgot to order the 'cake of the day'

 

[KatMark]

Playing catch up...again.

The pictures of the ruins are spectacular.

It sounds like you picked a winner with this private tour this time.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Karin wow! I am enjoying your Greek report so much! I have always wanted to visit there
It makes me sad to hear how Disney has alienated the AP guests like you and Tom. You would think they could recognize how their staunch defense of something so stupid will eventually hurt the bottom line.
We added an extra day to the beginning of our stay but the system won't recognize the entire stay for ADR ressies and I had to have a CM fix it. I figured this would be the case fo FP+ so I called IT and was told there was nothing they could do about it. That is small potatoes compared to what you spend but it is a suite and she was actually laughing like it was a funny glitch or something. For your type of guest they should have a point system and give you anything you want!

 

[Linda67]

Karin, your photos are beautiful
It really looks like you visited some amazing places on this cruise

 

[Teri1]

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Day 9, July 31​

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Palo, Tastings and more „we'’re out of it“ - Part 3​

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So, once Tom had finished his drink and we had paid our bill we left.
We walked over to the duty free shop and had a good look around, then went into Fathoms, but something was going on and we decided to not stay. We still had quite some time to kill before dinner and Tom had seen something in the duty free shop he wanted to have a closer look at, so we went back.
And after we had checked out whatever it had been he had had an interest in we had a look at the O’Gill’s merchandise. They sold all sorts of things, including a mug and I urged Tom to get one and have an O’Gill’s in it. He did not agree to buying the mug, but agreed to getting an O’Gill’s.
He had had it on the Fantasy and had liked it, so why not. So in we went and there were already several tables filled with people. We found seats at one of the higher tables and sat on the bar stools. A server came to greet us and asked about our drinks order.
Tom asked about an O’Gill’s. Guess what,

they were out of it.

So Tom asked what other beers there were on tap and one peeked his interest. Um, sorry, but

they were out of it.

So Tom went to order a Guiness – it is an Irish pub in the end and surely they would have Guiness on tap. Um, no,

they were out of that too,

but did serve it in a can. Not what Tom had expected, so in the end he ended up with some kind of

American beer and I just ordered a Diet Coke, praying they would not be out of that as well.
And boy, was I lucky, as they actually HAD Diet Coke – in a can,
but I could not have cared less. And as soon as the server had vanished with our key card to place our order my Spanish “friend”, Brent’s sidekick, was to enter, together with some kind of entertainer and they were doing a pub quiz.


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One thing that Mick hates most is once he decides what he wants to order, they say they are out of it! I am very sorry the Magic did not match the service we have received on the Dream and Fantasy.