July 28, 2007 - "Rome-ancing the Mouse Cruisers" -11 days! Part 2

[kyla]

Is anyone on the list going on the La Cinta beach excursion when we land at Sardinia? We decided yesterday to book some beach time but could not get the first choice because there were not enough slots. We are 4 and there were only two left. So we decided to do the afternoon excursion to La Cinta primarily to experience a beach in Sardinia. Let us know. See you all in 16 days.

My hubby is going.

Let's also add that anyone who is not going to dinner and would like to meet for drinks at the Grand Marina & then go to the Fountain for the light show let me know. We are meeting at 7:30 in the lobby. You can send me a PM and we will start a list. So far I know Sandra and Gerry will be there and I think Jeanne.

Yes, Jim and I plan on being there, unless my sister makes other plans for us. But she is trying to get a room at the Grand Marina, so hopefully, she will get it. We are already booked for the Grand Marina.

 

[MrsG]

Wow! You, go girl! What a day!

Just how far away did these people go on vacation? Are they on the cruise before us or what?? I just cannot imagine that someone would be as kind as you have been and then to call to let me know how ill my pet was that I would not travel all night to get home to take care of it. There is just no second guessing anyone, is there?

You have gone above and beyond what most people would do, well, I would be doing it too, but it makes you so at the people and for the poor dog who just can't understand what is going on. Denial is one thing, but you have to care for your pet even in denial. I am thinking about you!

Dh and I just recovered from a migrain as we took his car to the garage for what we thought was a minor repair and just as we had picked up our euros yesterday the garage called to tell us the part was $1,500. Thank goodness I had the euros in hand at that point! It was the air conditioner clutch so he told them to forget it, he would do without air because it would be another $1,500 to put it on! After a sleepless night, he thought he had purchased an extended warranty and when he went to pick the car up today he told the mechanic about it---sure enough, he had one, and it is covered---now wouldn't you have thought they would have checked that first??? I guess not if they thought they could make about $3,000!!! Well, in a few more days he should have his car back and I should have mine back too .....No more surprises, thank you, Honda garage!

I agree with you about the dog, Harole Ann. Hopefully, it will all work out for Sandra.

Good for your husband!!!! That was a lot of money you saved, plus you will certainly need the air conditioning if we have more weather like today!

With the t-shirt, did they tell you if there was a problem with the back? I'm waiting to hear about that.

Maryann

 

[bellelinus]

Is anyone on the list going on the La Cinta beach excursion when we land at Sardinia? We decided yesterday to book some beach time but could not get the first choice because there were not enough slots. We are 4 and there were only two left. So we decided to do the afternoon excursion to La Cinta primarily to experience a beach in Sardinia. Let us know. See you all in 16 days.

We plan on going to a beach in Sardinia on our own, so you might want to think about that. My options are open -- I have heard that you can take a bus from just outside the port for about 1.30 euros each and get to a beach; Cala Sabina is accessible via train and sounds lovely; and if I was able to negotiate a round trip taxi deal at the port I might go that way. Regardless, unless it is raining we will be headed to a beach that day.

 

[bellelinus]

I just read on another thread that someone ws looking for tix that same day. I think it was one of med excursions thread in the trip report section. I will look and see if I can find it again. It was a guy, I didnt recognize his name from our thread.

OK, so I didn't dream that --but I have been unable to find it again - I remember thinking that the poster had to be on our cruise but I didn't recognize the name.

 

[bridegirl]

I tried doing just the back of the shirt and that also got kicked back.



Susy

 

[Sandaneli]

I can't believe they haven't come for their dog! I have two (Belle and Linus!) and couldn't imagine it.

Bank of America visa debit card worked for me last year in Germany and the Czech republic . . . they were the ones to tell me that I needed to change my PIN to something with 4 digits, and also that it shouldn't start with a zero ("naught" for this Brit cruise) because some European ATMS don't recognize it.

THAnks Julie,
I called BofA and they told me it will work fine in France but they don't have a Global ATM Alliance with Spain or Italy. It will work but there will be substancial fees. I'll cange my pin number to fit the criteria you've mentioned. I'm also calling all of my other banks and credit cards to see if they are any better. So far no luck.
Sandra

 

[bellelinus]

THAnks Julie,
I called BofA and they told me it will work fine in France but they don't have a Global ATM Alliance with Spain or Italy. It will work but there will be substancial fees. I'll cange my pin number to fit the criteria you've mentioned. I'm also calling all of my other banks and credit cards to see if they are any better. So far no luck.
Sandra

Interesting! My personal opinion is that it is always going to cost something to exchange money, so I don't get too worried about exactly how much it will be. One tip is to figure out the largest amount you can get out per day (and they may be able to up it for you if you call) since some of the fees are per transaction regardless of amount -- then get that amount out and see how long you can make it last. B of A also was able to give me some euros ahead of time so that I am not having to do it in the Barcelona airport, but I'm not sure how much of that is the location of my branch in Manhattan and how much is bank policy.

 

[kidcoos3]

I can't believe they haven't come for their dog! I have two (Belle and Linus!) and couldn't imagine it.

I was wondering where your tag name came from . . .

OK, so I didn't dream that --but I have been unable to find it again - I remember thinking that the poster had to be on our cruise but I didn't recognize the name.

I found it: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19645498&postcount=10

THAnks Julie,
I called BofA and they told me it will work fine in France but they don't have a Global ATM Alliance with Spain or Italy. It will work but there will be substancial fees. I'll cange my pin number to fit the criteria you've mentioned. I'm also calling all of my other banks and credit cards to see if they are any better. So far no luck.
Sandra

Do you have a Charles Schwab account with checking? Wells Fargo had also told me that they could expedite an ATM card with a new checking account - you can always open up a new account just for this trip and then close it or keep it for "special European occasions"

 

[10yrann]

We also have a 10:55 am flight. We have dcl transfers.

Thanks Anna. If anyone else knows anything about the taxis at the port, I would love to hear from you.

Lisa

 

[bellelinus]

I'm just thinking that if B of A doesn't have a relationship with Spain or Italy there is no way they had one with the Czech Republic, and honestly I didn't think the fees were that bad when I saw the totals when I got home. Of course the Czech kronin were so devalued you felt like you were rich anyway -- I had a massage in Prague for 700 Kronin but it turned out to be about $45! We had thousand bills, even 10,000 I think . . .

 

[bellelinus]

Hi everyone, you guys sure make it very difficult to get anything done. I try and try, but somehow, I can't seem to Ketchup

I have a question for anyone who knows. We have a flight at 10:55am the day we return to Barcelona, I have heard that some people are taking taxis and some are getting a service. I was wondering if anyone recalls from other forums whether there are enough taxis at the port? Are they big enough for 2 Adults and 2 Kids with lots of luggage (Van)? Or are we better off trying to find something before we go? We leave for London next Wednesday the 18th, so time is running short.....

Hope everyone is well and having fun packing. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

Lisa, from Toronto

Lisa, in general the cars in Europe are smaller than here, but I have heard that there are some larger taxis. However, with your flight leaving at 10:55, you might want to think about reserving a car service, just for peace of mind (our flight leaves around 1PM, and is going to Paris, so no extra check in going overseas, either). Look at these:

http://www.barcelonataxivan.com/
http://www.bcntaxis.com/?gclid=CJOu4byHno0CFSAQgQodEDan1A

 

[Sandaneli]

Interesting! My personal opinion is that it is always going to cost something to exchange money, so I don't get too worried about exactly how much it will be. One tip is to figure out the largest amount you can get out per day (and they may be able to up it for you if you call) since some of the fees are per transaction regardless of amount -- then get that amount out and see how long you can make it last. B of A also was able to give me some euros ahead of time so that I am not having to do it in the Barcelona airport, but I'm not sure how much of that is the location of my branch in Manhattan and how much is bank policy.

Julie,
We ordered Euros today from BofA. THey will be here on Thursday. I just checked with AAA and they have a AAA Passport card that is a Visa Atm/ debit card and can be used in any Visa Atm machine in the world. It costs $4.95 to activate and you load it up to whatever you want and then use it at any atm machine for a $2.00 fee. This sounds like the best option for us. I checked and it is accepted in every city we go to and has a finite credit limit because we put it on. Also, when we get back AAA will transfer the money back to our bank account without any fees.
I haven't spoken to DH, but I think that is the way we will go.
Sandra

 

[danfromca]

I tried doing just the back of the shirt and that also got kicked back.



Susy

Now that's just plain absurd.

Julie,
We ordered Euros today from BofA. THey will be here on Thursday. I just checked with AAA and they have a AAA Passport card that is a Visa Atm/ debit card and can be used in any Visa Atm machine in the world. It costs $4.95 to activate and you load it up to whatever you want and then use it at any atm machine for a $2.00 fee. This sounds like the best option for us. I checked and it is accepted in every city we go to and has a finite credit limit because we put it on. Also, when we get back AAA will transfer the money back to our bank account without any fees.
I haven't spoken to DH, but I think that is the way we will go.
Sandra

That's worth looking into....

 

[Sandaneli]

THese are the people signed up for the Fish Extender gift exchange.

If you want to join us please PM me with your room number and I'll add you to the list.

IF your name is listed and you don't have a room number please PM me and I'll add it.

MaryJo 6134
Sandaneli 2017
Bellelinus 5020
PixieDustII 6550
IslandMom3 5634
LoveBeast 7501
SallieP 7546
alexturner 2541
disneynutinlondon 8564
eeyorelvr10
DisneySpirit 5648
4kittymagic 6594
bridegirl
kyla
formerpcer

If I have missed someone or put you in by mistake, please accept my apologies and PM me so I can correct the list.

Thanks,
Sandra

 

[Sandaneli]

We applied for the kids passports about 2 weeks ago (before you panic we don't need them for this cruise) and today we received letters from the Office of Customer Service
US State Department
Washington, DC

1. I didn't know the State Department had a customer service department!

2. Since when do you get notification that they have received your application. Is this new?

Sandra

 

[bellelinus]

We applied for the kids passports about 2 weeks ago (before you panic we don't need them for this cruise) and today we received letters from the Office of Customer Service
US State Department
Washington, DC

1. I didn't know the State Department had a customer service department!

2. Since when do you get notification that they have received your application. Is this new?

Sandra

I've never had that happen before -- but ours are several years old.

 

[MrsG]

I tried doing just the back of the shirt and that also got kicked back.



Susy

Thanks for the heads-up Suzy. Next step - the mall.

Does anyone know if you burn the images to CD and bring to the custom T-shirt store or will they upload from a flash drive??????? Dan?????

We applied for the kids passports about 2 weeks ago (before you panic we don't need them for this cruise) and today we received letters from the Office of Customer Service
US State Department
Washington, DC

1. I didn't know the State Department had a customer service department!

2. Since when do you get notification that they have received your application. Is this new?

Sandra

May be this is an attempt to make nice because they fouled things up for months!

Maryann

 

[danfromca]

THAnks Julie,
I called BofA and they told me it will work fine in France but they don't have a Global ATM Alliance with Spain or Italy. It will work but there will be substancial fees. I'll cange my pin number to fit the criteria you've mentioned. I'm also calling all of my other banks and credit cards to see if they are any better. So far no luck.
Sandra

Depends on your definition of substantial. BofA is actually pretty good according to this table. $5 plus 1% means that for a $250 exchange you'll pay about $7.50. That fee is waived if you use one of their global alliance ATMs (Barclays UK, BNP Paribas France).

Seems to me following the standard recommendation for international travel (use ATM's, and take out money in a few large blocks rather than numerous small ones) should work fine.

I've traveled quite a bit with my BofA ATM card and while I haven't had it work in every ATM, I've generally had no trouble.

Dan

 

[kidcoos3]

Julie,
We ordered Euros today from BofA. THey will be here on Thursday. I just checked with AAA and they have a AAA Passport card that is a Visa Atm/ debit card and can be used in any Visa Atm machine in the world. It costs $4.95 to activate and you load it up to whatever you want and then use it at any atm machine for a $2.00 fee. This sounds like the best option for us. I checked and it is accepted in every city we go to and has a finite credit limit because we put it on. Also, when we get back AAA will transfer the money back to our bank account without any fees.
I haven't spoken to DH, but I think that is the way we will go.
Sandra

Might want to check into the AAA Travel Card again - I remember reading that it wasn't such a great deal. I did a quick google search and came up with this: http://www.frommers.com/cgi-bin/WebX?13@85.e05VbB2cu2s^0@.eed7de8

 

[Sandaneli]

Might want to check into the AAA Travel Card again - I remember reading that it wasn't such a great deal. I did a quick google search and came up with this: http://www.frommers.com/cgi-bin/WebX?13@85.e05VbB2cu2s^0@.eed7de8

Leslie, thanks for the information. I guess it is semantics and you have to have the right wording to be told about the 7% fee. I'm going to check out my CU and see how they deal with international ATMs.

Sandra