Disney Magic 13-night Eastbound Transatlantic May 13-26 2018

[Deb T.]

Tomorrow will be 'only' 10 more months until embarkation! Waiting is sooooooooo hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! While I'm counting down the days, here is the list of items I'm checking off as I prepare....

Check passport expiration dates (and renew if needed)
Book airline reservations
Book hotel reservations
Book land transfers
Buy trip insurance
Make door magnets and room decorations
Research port excursions and private tours

What things are you doing to help pass the time while we wait for our magical cruise?

 

[ladyelizabeth]

Tomorrow will be 'only' 10 more months until embarkation! Waiting is sooooooooo hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! While I'm counting down the days, here is the list of items I'm checking off as I prepare....

Check passport expiration dates (and renew if needed)
Book airline reservations
Book hotel reservations
Book land transfers
Buy trip insurance
Make door magnets and room decorations
Research port excursions and private tours

What things are you doing to help pass the time while we wait for our magical cruise?

I've been watching Sea Cruisers Disney Magic Vlogs on YouTube! And I've been looking over this year's EBTA navigators on www.disneycruiselineblog.com! Getting excited!

 

[Deb T.]

Never heard of those vlogs... I'll definitely check them out!!!

 

[ladyelizabeth]

Never heard of those vlogs... I'll definitely check them out!!!

Just discovered them myself! They love cruising and recently they went on their first Disney cruise.

 

[Bellecruiser]

I had never heard of these blogs either. I shall try them out.

Great checklist, Deb!
Check passport
Book airline
Book hotel
Book land transfers
Book insurance
Make door decorations
Research ports and excursions

The last one is the one that takes the longest...

 

[Deb T.]

I had never heard of these blogs either. I shall try them out.

Great checklist, Deb!
Check passport
Book airline
Book hotel
Book land transfers
Book insurance
Make door decorations
Research ports and excursions

The last one is the one that takes the longest...

Thanks for the compliment!

You are way ahead of me! We only have passports and door decorations completely checked off, so far.

Flights: We're waiting for Southwest's booking window for May to open up for pre-cruise flights to FLL. This Thursday, they're opening booking through April 6th, so it will still be a few months before they open May. I've been checking Barcelona fares every day and haven't found one that I like enough to book yet.

Hotel: Miami is booked, but not Barcelona until we know for sure which day we're flying home (will depend on airfares and how much time we want to spend in Barcelona).

Transfers: We'll UBER FLL to hotel and hotel to port. BCN transfers will depend on our flight schedule.

Excursions: We're working on figuring out what we want to do in each port. So much fun to explore all our options!!

How is everyone else's planning going?

 

[ivanp91]

How is everyone else's planning going?

We've just booked our second stop after the cruise (Liverpool), and have a hotel lined up for a couple of nights in Miami for before the cruise (we are flying all the way from Australia so we need at least a couple nights to recuperate ). Just have a night in Barcelona, a few in London, and a few nights at Disneyland Paris to go... oh, and airfares (pretty sure we've figured out an airline, just waiting a few months for the prices to come down a bit).

To top it all off, embarkation day happens to be my birthday... can't think of a better way to celebrate than to be back on my favorite ship

 

[Deb T.]

We've just booked our second stop after the cruise (Liverpool), and have a hotel lined up for a couple of nights in Miami for before the cruise (we are flying all the way from Australia so we need at least a couple nights to recuperate ). Just have a night in Barcelona, a few in London, and a few nights at Disneyland Paris to go... oh, and airfares (pretty sure we've figured out an airline, just waiting a few months for the prices to come down a bit).

To top it all off, embarkation day happens to be my birthday... can't think of a better way to celebrate than to be back on my favorite ship

Wow! I can't think of a better way to spend a birthday!!!

 

[Bellecruiser]

Deb,

We forgot the most important item for the checklist...pay off the cruise! ugh!!

 

[Deb T.]

Deb,

We forgot the most important item for the checklist...pay off the cruise! ugh!!

Ugh is right! I'm planning to post a few more checklists as we get closer to PIF day and the cruise. LOTS of things to do to keep us busy while we count down the next 287 days!

 

[Bellecruiser]

Can't wait to see the next checklist. You inspire me!

 

[Bellecruiser]

Hola All,

Unfortunately DH and I are not going to be able to go on this cruise. One of our travel partners can't go so we are changing to the 2018 WBTA. I was really looking forward to this cruise. Oh well...

 

[Deb T.]

Hola All,

Unfortunately DH and I are not going to be able to go on this cruise. One of our travel partners can't go so we are changing to the 2018 WBTA. I was really looking forward to this cruise. Oh well...

Really sorry to see you go. I was so looking forward to meeting you. Have a great time on the WBTA. At least the time changes in that direction are so much easier than on the EBTA.

 

[Deb T.]

Good news for anyone who is planning to fly Southwest Airlines to FLL for our cruise - they just opened their booking window through June 1st, 2018! We just booked our flights! Check another task off the list! Woohoo! "Only" 255 days to go! Can't wait!!

 

[disneyfan888]

Hello all,
Question, does anyone have any tips on when is the best time to book the international flights? I know airfare rates are all over the place, but I wanted to try and get a decent deal ( I bet we all are) lol. Any tips would be appreciated TIA--239 days to go!

 

[Deb T.]

Hello all,
Question, does anyone have any tips on when is the best time to book the international flights? I know airfare rates are all over the place, but I wanted to try and get a decent deal ( I bet we all are) lol. Any tips would be appreciated TIA--239 days to go!

I've read all kinds of "tips" for getting the best airfare, but none seem to ever really be true. With that said, I usually snag a fare I can live with around 5 months out. I'm still searching for flights for this TA cruise, as well as a couple of other big trips we have coming up. I check Expedia and Google Flights daily so that when a good fare pops up I'm ready to pounce on it! For self preservation (read: to not kick myself for not waiting longer to buy), I never look at the fares for those flights again. Good luck!

 

[Deb in IA]

Sorry I have been MIA for a while - very busy summer!
Bellecruiser, so sorry you won't be on this one. We have thought about the WBTA, but the timing never has worked out for us. Let us know what you think!

We have our return flights booked on our United Mileage Plus rewards - woo hoo!

Now looking at a hotel in Miami for the night before. Any recommendations?

 

[BUFFNDO]

My DH and I will be on this EBTA and just got off the Magic Sailing out of San Diego to Baja. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Laura and Joel

DVC OKW since 1995
DCL Gold

 

[Happy85]

My DH and I are excited about this cruise, first time cruising transatlantic and first time on the Disney Magic.

 

[ivanp91]

My DH and I will be on this EBTA and just got off the Magic Sailing out of San Diego to Baja. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Do you mean the Wonder? The Magic doesn't do west coast sailings

Less than 5 months until embarkation day!!! It can't come soon enough!