Who's in for GREECE and TURKEY, June 15 2003????

[Tozzie]

Hi Tozzie!

Do you have anything planned there yet?

No, I had started reading up on it, had an sudden unexpected family situation happen and never got back to it. I will have to wing it!

 

[abayaflowers]

Oooops!
Too early! 10 hour lay-over in Newark, then 8 hour flight to Barcelona! Arrive 9:15 am Thursday, June 13, Disney transport to Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona.

We are leaving SFO on the 12th @ 7 a.m. and arriving in Newark @ 2:45 p.m. on UA.

We are on the same flight from Newark to Barcelona. I think that we are in the 20's rows.

If you need anything during this flight like candy, magazines, tylenol, etc., just let me know.

 

[abayaflowers]

Oooops!

2) What are you most looking forward to tasting?
Chocolate souffle!!

8) Most rational fear about this vacation?
Pickpockets. My parents were robbed on their second day in Rome years ago - they got their hands slashed horribly and had to have emergency surgery.

Where can DH and I try the chocolate souffle? Palo's? MDR?

I am so sorry to hear about your parents. We were told by our European friends to get a purse, "man-purse", or back-pack that is very neutral.

Were people helpful to your parents when it happened?

 

[mindelmouse]

Hi guys!

You must all be sooooooooo excited now that your cruise is just a week away! My family and I are booked on a 7night cruise but are not sailing until August 17th which still seems so far away!

the reason for my post is that I and other fellow travellers on our cruise have a few questions that you guys might be able to answer:

1) When you received your documents from DCL, did they include information regarding the formal and semi-formal nights? We are wondering which nights they will be on and how soon we will find that out.

2) Did they send any information regarding the European ports of call?

I hope you all have a fantastic cruise

Em

Hi there - happy to help. The final cruise documents do not have the formal and semi formal nights listed, however, we knew well in advance when ours were. Just call DCL and they can tell you. There was no other information about the European ports of call, just the standard booklet.

 

[mindelmouse]

Where can DH and I try the chocolate souffle? Palo's? MDR?

I am so sorry to hear about your parents. We were told by our European friends to get a purse, "man-purse", or back-pack that is very neutral.

Were people helpful to your parents when it happened?

The chocolate souffle can only be had at Palo.

 

[abayaflowers]

The chocolate souffle can only be had at Palo.

Sounds great! I will make sure that I make extra room for it when we dine there

Thanks!

 

[Tozzie]

Sounds great! I will make sure that I make extra room for it when we dine there

Thanks!

Make sure you tell them when you order your dinner that you want the chocolate dessert they make them individually and you won't have to wait for it to bake if you tell them early

 

[abayaflowers]

Make sure you tell them when you order your dinner that you want the chocolate dessert they make them individually and you won't have to wait for it to bake if you tell them early

Wow! Must be real special. Thank you!

DH is looking forward to the vacation and eating at Palo's.

 

[ImprovGal]

It's getting closer!

Here's my answers to the questions:
1) When does your vacation begin? (out the door, flight, Spain, boarding...)
I've got a night flight Thursday night around 10pm BOS-FRA(4.5 hr layover during which time I hope to find an arrivals lounge I can use for a shower)and then FRA-BCN. I'm staying at the Four Points Barcelona Diagonal so I'll be grabbing a cab to the hotel and then a cab to the port the following morning.

2) What are you most looking forward to tasting?
So many ports... so many different cheeses... I also have a Barcelona quest for a cafe I read about that specializes in torrones.


3) What is your favorite secret that you know or have heard about on the Magic?
Hmmmm... that despite having cruised on that ship 6 times before, I still have a tough time picking out the elevator buttons in the deck 3 forward Beat Street cityscape design.

4) Which port are you most excited about? Least?
I'm most excited for Malta, Ephesus, Mykonos, and Piraeus since it will be my first visit to those places.
I can't really say that I'm least excited for any of the ports. For the repeat ports I chose excursions that will take me to areas I haven't seen before. For example, at Civitavecchia instead of going into Rome, I'm doing the Bracciano and Wine Tasting excursion.

5) How will you dress for pirate night?
I'm dining in Palo with my friends that night, so I have a chiffon dress that has a subtle skull print.

6) What one thing do you wish you'd known before your first cruise?
Before my first cruise, I wish I'd known how simple it is to meet so many interesting and wonderful people just by being friendly and outgoing. And then what I wish I'd known before my second cruise is that 1) the crew has phenomenal memories to recognize guests from previous cruises and 2) it's a complete lie if anyone says "you're on vacation and you'll never see these people again". This will be cruise #17 for me and each time I cruise I run into familiar faces among guests and crew.

7) Most irrational fear about this vacation?
That I'll wake up lactose-intolerant and not be able to have the wonderful cheeses or gelatos.

8) Most rational fear about this vacation?
It's not really a fear, per se, but since I'm travelling solo until I board the ship, I'll be particularly on my guard.

9) What moment are you most looking forward to?
Leaving work on Thursday.

10) Who are you most looking forward to meeting/seeing?
Friends and Friends-I've-Yet-to-Meet

 

[disfamilyfun]

Will spend most of the weekend washing and packing. Getting hair done the day before we leave. So much to do.

We dress for formal and semi - formal night ( 3 women). We never dress up for pirate night, but one year we will.

When we leave Dulles our phones will stay on airplane mode. We all have iphones and we thought about getting international for the time away. Surprisingly my daughter was like no - cruise vacations are family time (minus her time in the Vibe) and we don't use our phones. Guess we won't be using the phones.

few work things still do to but then off to relax

 

[canadakath]

At this time 1 week from now it will be cruise day in Barcelona! (accounting for the time difference of course!) When are folks planning on going to the port? We got a port arrival time of 12:30, but we'll probably check out of our hotel at 11 and head right to the port via a cab. Just not keen on keeping track of kids, luggage and DH while trying to navigate public transport!

The kids have Monday off of school, then only 2 days. They will miss two weeks of school, but at that point it doesn't seem to be "did you watch a movie in school today", but "how many movies did you watch in school today! I have to work Thursday morning, but I'm so giddy it doesn't matter.

Unfortunately DS1 seems to have a bit of a head cold I feel it a bit too, although it's hard to tell because seasonal allergies are in full swing here.

Still lots to do! Going to do a "practice pack" tomorrow to see if I need anything else. Want to be able to make it through 7 days between laundry, but also want to fit 4 people's stuff into two suitcases! A challenge my engineering mind is looking forward to! Have already decided that what we wear for semi-formal night will do for formal night and our dinner at Palo's. Sorry if we offend anyone for not being in tuxes and ball gowns

Looking forward to meeting everyone on embarkation day! Safe travels all!

 

[nzdisneymom]

I have an old Iphone. I am putting it in airplane mode and it will stay that way. Might turn it on to use internet without taking it out of airplane mode, but only in ports or Barcelona if there is wifi available.

Barcelona has several areas where there is free wifi. For more information: http://www.bcn.cat/barcelonawifi/en/

Of course the usual spots also have free wifi like McDs. Our hotel has free wifi in the lobby. Even the bus tour we are doing offers free wifi. Connection speeds are likely to be less than optimal but adequate for checking in with family and friends.

 

[nzdisneymom]

It's getting closer!

Here's my answers to the questions:
1) When does your vacation begin? (out the door, flight, Spain, boarding...)
I've got a night flight Thursday night around 10pm BOS-FRA(4.5 hr layover during which time I hope to find an arrivals lounge I can use for a shower)and then FRA-BCN. I'm staying at the Four Points Barcelona Diagonal so I'll be grabbing a cab to the hotel and then a cab to the port the following morning.

2) What are you most looking forward to tasting?
So many ports... so many different cheeses... I also have a Barcelona quest for a cafe I read about that specializes in torrones.

3) What is your favorite secret that you know or have heard about on the Magic?
Hmmmm... that despite having cruised on that ship 6 times before, I still have a tough time picking out the elevator buttons in the deck 3 forward Beat Street cityscape design.

4) Which port are you most excited about? Least?
I'm most excited for Malta, Ephesus, Mykonos, and Piraeus since it will be my first visit to those places.
I can't really say that I'm least excited for any of the ports. For the repeat ports I chose excursions that will take me to areas I haven't seen before. For example, at Civitavecchia instead of going into Rome, I'm doing the Bracciano and Wine Tasting excursion.

5) How will you dress for pirate night?
I'm dining in Palo with my friends that night, so I have a chiffon dress that has a subtle skull print.

6) What one thing do you wish you'd known before your first cruise?
Before my first cruise, I wish I'd known how simple it is to meet so many interesting and wonderful people just by being friendly and outgoing. And then what I wish I'd known before my second cruise is that 1) the crew has phenomenal memories to recognize guests from previous cruises and 2) it's a complete lie if anyone says "you're on vacation and you'll never see these people again". This will be cruise #17 for me and each time I cruise I run into familiar faces among guests and crew.

7) Most irrational fear about this vacation?
That I'll wake up lactose-intolerant and not be able to have the wonderful cheeses or gelatos.

8) Most rational fear about this vacation?
It's not really a fear, per se, but since I'm travelling solo until I board the ship, I'll be particularly on my guard.

9) What moment are you most looking forward to?
Leaving work on Thursday.

10) Who are you most looking forward to meeting/seeing?
Friends and Friends-I've-Yet-to-Meet

DH and I are doing the Bracciano excursion on our 2nd cruise. I'd love to hear more about it after you do it, so if we bump into each other after Civitavecchia day, maybe we can chat about it. We are leaving the teenagers sleeping on the ship that morning.

 

[Tozzie]

For anyone who wants to know the weather forcast for the cruise, my travel agent sent me a link to a great website that will give you a 10 day forcast based on the cruise you are on so all the ports are listed.

Here is the link http://www.cruiseoutlook.com/report/4008-disney-magic-2013-06-15

 

[canadakath]

I just noticed a potential issue with the FE list totals. pawhitejr's info does not show the 3 kids in the "Total Number of Children" column. So the total number of kids should be 57 instead of 54. I was cutting it close (only had one extra FE) so I'll make a few more to be safe.

 

[Cali Tracy]

For anyone who wants to know the weather forcast for the cruise, my travel agent sent me a link to a great website that will give you a 10 day forcast based on the cruise you are on so all the ports are listed.

Here is the link http://www.cruiseoutlook.com/report/4008-disney-magic-2013-06-15

This is great! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Meum]

ok, something is wrong, I did a practice pack today and I have fit everything we are taking into 2 bags and they are both between 40 & 45 pounds what am I forgetting????????????????????????? when we did the Baltic cruise in 2010 I had 3 bags of the same size that i'm using this time hubby is thrilled, but i'm looking through the house for a stash of stuff that needs to be packed

 

[lllpath]

Will spend most of the weekend washing and packing. Getting hair done the day before we leave. So much to do.

We dress for formal and semi - formal night ( 3 women). We never dress up for pirate night, but one year we will.

When we leave Dulles our phones will stay on airplane mode. We all have iphones and we thought about getting international for the time away. Surprisingly my daughter was like no - cruise vacations are family time (minus her time in the Vibe) and we don't use our phones. Guess we won't be using the phones.

few work things still do to but then off to relax

When are you all leaving? We are leaving from Dulles on Wednesday evening (connecting through Brussels).

 

[Double Trouble]

Just to break the monotony of prepping for a few minutes, thought I'd throw out some events for our cruise to look forward to...

Sunday, June 16 (Villefranche): Father's Day

Friday, June 21 (Piraeus): Summer Solstice (first day of summer/longest day of the year)

Sunday, June 23 (Mykonos): Full Moon...it's actually a "supermoon" as it's the largest and closest to the Earth in all of 2013. Sounds like a great excuse for a party! (like we really need one)

 

[Double Trouble]

Friday we have our Sagrada tix for 11 AM and based on Ame's report via Facebook, you'd better not be late for your time! So we aren't planning anything for before that. We bought our tix online - is it too late to get yours if you really want to do it and avoid the lines? We wouldn't do it if we had to wait in a long line (darn that WDW for spoiling us with Fast Passes).

nzdisneymom,

Did you (or anyone else) get your SF tix through Ticketmaster on the SF website? We were looking at the 11-12 slot on Friday as well. Are you doing the "Basilica" tour or the Basilica with "towers" or with "guide"?? I know kids under 11 are free, but will they enjoy the inside? Will the adults? Any other tips from anyone, including best way to get there (Looks like maybe the bus)? We are not on FB so did not see the report there.

Thanks!