May 18, 2013 MAGIC EBTA - Who is with us?

[MandyGirl]

Feel your pain with airfare.... We've seen IcelandAir increase since we purchased tickets. My mother-in-law finally decided to join, and her airfare was about 50% more. Now of course they aren't selling the cheapie economy seats - just the next class up - so she will have a little more room, but she would have been happy getting the lesser expensive seats.

[kaseyC]

Originally Posted by NancyIL

If my flight times don't change much, and all 4 flights are on time - I will get home the same day I leave from Barcelona! I am using FF miles, so I will keep trying to change my JFK-RDU-ORD routing to a JFK-ORD routing. There is only one JFK-ORD flight that will work, and there are no available seats using the fewest miles at this time.

I'm in the same boat. We have a return flight from Paris on 6/16 -CDG-YYZ-ORD on Air Canada and United. There is a non stop CDG-ORD on United, but there are no lower miles saver awards available yet, I keep checking and hoping some open up because that would be my ideal flight home.

[NancyIL]

Originally Posted by kaseyC

I'm in the same boat. We have a return flight from Paris on 6/16 -CDG-YYZ-ORD on Air Canada and United. There is a non stop CDG-ORD on United, but there are no lower miles saver awards available yet, I keep checking and hoping some open up because that would be my ideal flight home.

I could get home (to Champaign) on 3 flights if I were willing to stay overnight in Miami, NY, or Chicago. I prefer to get home in one day, so I'll wait and see how flight schedules change between now and June. Too bad an overnight in Orlando isn't an option, or I'd choose that!

[MandyGirl]

You ladies sound like us... we had enough FF miles on AA to get us all home at the conclusion of our time in Europe, but when the schedules came out, they had connections where we had to change airports (in London or NYC) or were codeshare on BA with crazy fees. When I found a flight I liked, it was about $350 each plus 30k AA miles... figured it was worth it to spend the extra and save our miles. Gives me an excuse to book another transatlantic... Now I am wishing I had booked our stopover in Iceland for longer - that will be just a tease spending only 2 nights there.

[Tink1987]

Originally Posted by GoofyNewfie

Hi Tink, I don't have the details at the moment, but my wife said it was $110 for a limo from the GW Bush Airport to Galveston. I tried looking through her list of emails and I don't yet see how she got a price. I'll ask her in the morning and get back.

We're going to come in on the 17th.

Hi Goofy, thanks very much, much appreciated

[woody73]

Originally Posted by GoofyNewfie

. . . And, something else I've recently noted, but not really figured out for sure is when using the credit card to purchase something that they'll ask me if I want to pay in CAD or GBP. If I pay in CAD, I'm getting a much worse rate than my bank/CC company charges. So I've started just saying GBP is fine.

This is called Dynamic Currency Conversion, and I avoid it whenever possible. While in Spain last month, it would have added $10 to our two night hotel bill.

Woody

[Tink1987]

Can anyone please remind how much the Enterprise one way rental is from IAH to Galveston? I know somebody checked but I can't find the price on our super long thread now

Thinking a car is the best way to go due to us wanting to stop off in the new Tanger outlet mall.

Thanks

[NancyIL]

Originally Posted by Tink1987

Can anyone please remind how much the Enterprise one way rental is from IAH to Galveston? I know somebody checked but I can't find the price on our super long thread now

Thinking a car is the best way to go due to us wanting to stop off in the new Tanger outlet mall.

Thanks

My 2-day rental of an Enterprise economy car from Houston Hobby to Galveston is $120.99 - including taxes.

[Tink1987]

Originally Posted by NancyIL

My 2-day rental of an Enterprise economy car from Houston Hobby to Galveston is $120.99 - including taxes.

Thank you, will call Enterprise the weekend and prebook.

[MandyGirl]

Originally Posted by Tink1987

Can anyone please remind how much the Enterprise one way rental is from IAH to Galveston? I know somebody checked but I can't find the price on our super long thread now

Thinking a car is the best way to go due to us wanting to stop off in the new Tanger outlet mall.

Thanks

From Hobby to Galveston with Enterprise, one day (24 hour) car rental, we got $84 all in. When I found a rep who did not try to charge me the $100 drop fee, I snagged it. The previous time I called it came to about $225 for the same dates / times / vehicle because of a drop fee and something else.

[padalyn]

Originally Posted by GoofyNewfie

Hey Folks,

Finally getting a couple minutes to rub together to look at the cruise info. Looking at excursions. There's an excursion called "Unforgettable West Madeira" at Madeira that's 8-8.5hrs. We're only docked for 8.25hrs.

How in the world can Disney guarantee that? I have to assume you need to include some time to get off/on the boat?

Anyone have experience with this sort of thing that could comment? Should I avoid that excursion like the plague? I get it that they guarantee you, but would that simply mean they'll fly us to Gibraltar or would they absolutely wait?

Yep - was on an excursion in St Petersburg we were supposed to sail at 2200, well we didn't get back to the ship until almost 0030! They waited for us, becuase it was a Disney excursion (however, I am sure that having Karl H and Tom W on the excursion didn't hurt!) Go ahead and book it if you want to do that - they will make sure you are safe and onboard. It is the folks that go on their own who get left behind.

Originally Posted by Tink1987

Is anybody else flying into Houston on the 16th May and going straight to Galveston?

Just wondering if anybody wanted to organise a shuttle together or even a taxi together?

Only asking because it's quite expensive from IAH to Galveston

We are going into Hobby on the 17th (arriving at 0000 on the 18th actually) if that helps at all.

[GoofyNewfie]

Originally Posted by Tink1987

Hi Goofy, thanks very much, much appreciated

The Dreams Unlimited TA recommended us Galveston Limo. On the http://galvestonlimousineservice.com/iah.html page, it's $55 per person from IAH. I'll probably have to pick up the 4pm trip. I guess it works for us because it's just us 2. A bigger family would not be cost effective over a car rental from the sounds of it.

[MandyGirl]

I thought I would just ask to see if any known special people would be onboard our sailing like on previous Transatlantic crossings... thinking Disney would possibly have something booked since we are within 6 months now and sometimes their special performers have schedules booked months in advance. Ducky Williams, etc. (I specifically asked about Ducky). Either they don't have anything special booked, or I just got the typical canned response:


Thank you for your e-mail.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

In order to keep our entertainment fresh and interesting, we continually
evaluate our offerings and look for opportunities to make our cruise
experience even better, as we are committed to producing quality family
entertainment.

Our latest entertainment option, Disney Digital 3-D, in the Walt Disney
and Buena Vista Theatres is receiving great reviews from our Guests.
Also, in addition to the two pianists onboard each voyage, we are now
offering musical talent acts on specific days which may be of interest
to you. Please check your Personal Navigator upon arrival onboard for
performance times.

We will continue to update our entertainment offerings in the future and
thank you for your thoughtful comments. We are committed to offering a
cruise experience that meets the Disney standards of excellence and
provides the type of magical vacation our Guests have come to expect.

Unfortunetly, we do not know the entertainement schedule

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require
further assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact
us.

We look forward to sailing again with you and your family!

Have a Magical Day!

Kaylee
Email Communications Agent
Disney Cruise Line

I know I have mentioned this cruise to several friends and family, but when they see the itinerary, they say that looks "boring". So I thought I might be able to give them an idea of what extra special acts might be onboard (in addition to the broadway productions you normally see onboard). No luck in getting any info from Disney or on this page. Guess we will have to wait until onboard and "check your Personal Navigator".

[NancyIL]

Originally Posted by MandyGirl

I thought I would just ask to see if any known special people would be onboard our sailing like on previous Transatlantic crossings... thinking Disney would possibly have something booked since we are within 6 months now and sometimes their special performers have schedules booked months in advance. Ducky Williams, etc. (I specifically asked about Ducky). Either they don't have anything special booked, or I just got the typical canned response:


Thank you for your e-mail.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

In order to keep our entertainment fresh and interesting, we continually
evaluate our offerings and look for opportunities to make our cruise
experience even better, as we are committed to producing quality family
entertainment.

Our latest entertainment option, Disney Digital 3-D, in the Walt Disney
and Buena Vista Theatres is receiving great reviews from our Guests.
Also, in addition to the two pianists onboard each voyage, we are now
offering musical talent acts on specific days which may be of interest
to you. Please check your Personal Navigator upon arrival onboard for
performance times.

We will continue to update our entertainment offerings in the future and
thank you for your thoughtful comments. We are committed to offering a
cruise experience that meets the Disney standards of excellence and
provides the type of magical vacation our Guests have come to expect.

Unfortunetly, we do not know the entertainement schedule

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require
further assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact
us.

We look forward to sailing again with you and your family!

Have a Magical Day!

Kaylee
Email Communications Agent
Disney Cruise Line

I know I have mentioned this cruise to several friends and family, but when they see the itinerary, they say that looks "boring". So I thought I might be able to give them an idea of what extra special acts might be onboard (in addition to the broadway productions you normally see onboard). No luck in getting any info from Disney or on this page. Guess we will have to wait until onboard and "check your Personal Navigator".

As itineraries go, it certainly is a boring one! I will reserve judgement about the cruise as a whole until after it's over. I sure hope DCL has lots of activities scheduled, because I'm not a lounge by the pool/go to the spa kind of gal.

[woody73]

Originally Posted by NancyIL

As itineraries ago, it certainly is a boring one! I will reserve judgement about the cruise as a whole until after it's over. I sure hope DCL has lots of activities scheduled, because I'm not a lounge by the pool/go to the spa kind of gal.

I've been on two DCL Transatlantic cruises. IMHO, on those cruises DCL front-loaded the adult activities during the stretch of sea days. So at the beginning of the sea days, there were plenty of activities for adults. But toward the end, there were very few activities. I mentioned this on my comment cards.

Woody