May 18, 2013 Magic EBTA Part Two - From Tejas to España

[StephenKay]

Just poking in to say thanks to everyone for helping make this a fabulous cruise!! . It was wonderful to meet so many friendly and fun people - what a fantabulous group! My laptop crashed in Barcelona so a trip to the Apple store is first on my list so I can start downloading pictures.

We have just started our journey home as we disembarked our Med cruise in Venice yesterday. Flight to Iceland is today..... For those who used Iceland air or spent time there, any tips? Planning on driving the Golden Circle tomorrow and Blue Lagoon tomorrow evening... Final flights home on Wednesday. Are Northern Lights still active maybe like Chris shared a while back?

Btw... We did fine in Istanbul and Ephesus. Could see the black smoke from Taksim square a mile away from cruise port. Athens was cancelled with less than 12 hours notice due to a huge strike, so they changed two days around and we got Dubvronik Croatia instead where we did a full day tour up to Ston for fresh oysters and olive oil and wine tasting along the way. Beautiful area!!! Having only two sea days on a 12 night cruise was quite the opposite of the EBTA haha but we still ran into three other EBTA families quite often on that cruise. . Toulon, Florence / Pisa, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus, Croatia and Venice followed by train to Milan. Whooped! But so thankful.

Mandy & Kurt,

Welcome back to the real world, please can you send a couple of pics of the last supper, I hope the kids have memories for years to come. Enjoy.

 

[birkner]

Just poking in to say thanks to everyone for helping make this a fabulous cruise!! . It was wonderful to meet so many friendly and fun people - what a fantabulous group! My laptop crashed in Barcelona so a trip to the Apple store is first on my list so I can start downloading pictures.

We have just started our journey home as we disembarked our Med cruise in Venice yesterday. Flight to Iceland is today..... For those who used Iceland air or spent time there, any tips? Planning on driving the Golden Circle tomorrow and Blue Lagoon tomorrow evening... Final flights home on Wednesday. Are Northern Lights still active maybe like Chris shared a while back?

Btw... We did fine in Istanbul and Ephesus. Could see the black smoke from Taksim square a mile away from cruise port. Athens was cancelled with less than 12 hours notice due to a huge strike, so they changed two days around and we got Dubvronik Croatia instead where we did a full day tour up to Ston for fresh oysters and olive oil and wine tasting along the way. Beautiful area!!! Having only two sea days on a 12 night cruise was quite the opposite of the EBTA haha but we still ran into three other EBTA families quite often on that cruise. . Toulon, Florence / Pisa, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus, Croatia and Venice followed by train to Milan. Whooped! But so thankful.

Sounds like you have had an incredible adventure! We thought of doing the other cruise but was just too port intensive for us. Can't wait to see some wonderful pics of you guys when you get time. Hope to see you next year on the WBTA!

 

[gramfrog]

Nice one Stephen. Have you considered a whirlwind trip report covering the EBTA ?

EXCELLENT IDEA!!!! I vote yes for Steve to summarize the EBTA in words and pics....

 

[SaraCat]

Welcome back Mandy, I am not at all jealous you are still on vacation!!

Stevie, Thanks for the mini photo trip report - I am now desperate to do a Med cruise!

I've been wading through my photos trying to sort out a photobook, despite me not taking as many photos as usual I still seem to have 1000+! It's going to take a while

 

[StephenKay]

Ladies,

I think it's time for people to start posting pics of the Champagne Girls event, if like me you just happened to be in Diversion at then end and were accosted by some ladies in mid binge. Anyway here's the proof.







A bevy of lovelies, can't you tell none of them are sober

Does anyone else have pictures.

 

[kaseyC]

We got back home on Sunday night. We had an absolute blast on the EBTA. Thanks to all of the organizers of the many events, I enjoyed each one I attended. It was so nice to meet so many of the folks from our group.

 

[NancyIL]

We got back home on Sunday night. We had an absolute blast on the EBTA. Thanks to all of the organizers of the many events, I enjoyed each one I attended. It was so nice to meet so many of the folks from our group.

Welcome back, Henrietta! How was your stay in Paris and your Baltic cruise?

 

[kaseyC]

Welcome back, Henrietta! How was your stay in Paris and your Baltic cruise?

Nancy, we had a wonderful cruise and stay in Paris. We were very fortunate with our weather during the Baltic sailing, the only cold, rainy day was Stockholm. Paris was fabulous, we all agreed that we need to go back for longer visit.

 

[geffric]

We got back home on Sunday night. We had an absolute blast on the EBTA. Thanks to all of the organizers of the many events, I enjoyed each one I attended. It was so nice to meet so many of the folks from our group.

welcome home. I would love to hear about your trip and see pictures. Maybe you, me and Jackie can get together again for a post cruise meet and share pictures??

 

[gramfrog]

welcome home. I would love to hear about your trip and see pictures. Maybe you, me and Jackie can get together again for a post cruise meet and share pictures??

I second that!!!

 

[MandyGirl]

In the back ofSuper Shuttle now...15 more minutes until home. Iceland was amazing and we hope to go for longer next year! No pics of LastSupper ... No cameras allowed. MacBook Pro crashed in Barxelona so all pics still. On memory cards. Loved both cruises!!

 

[kaseyC]

welcome home. I would love to hear about your trip and see pictures. Maybe you, me and Jackie can get together again for a post cruise meet and share pictures??

I second that!!!

Just say when! I'm always up for a trip to Deerpark and getting together with you two would be icing on the cake!

 

[StephenKay]

In the back ofSuper Shuttle now...15 more minutes until home. Iceland was amazing and we hope to go for longer next year! No pics of LastSupper ... No cameras allowed. MacBook Pro crashed in Barxelona so all pics still. On memory cards. Loved both cruises!!

Welcome Home,

To Mandy and Curt,

Here comes the postman with a big case of post cruise "blues". For me, because I had done a lot of great cruises I didn't really think I would have enjoyed this so much, however that's not the case, because of the effort put in by yourself and others on these boards this helped in making lots of new friends. Thanks.

See you soon and hopefully the "little one" will give you more of a chance to enjoy some of the activities.

 

[NancyIL]

Nancy, we had a wonderful cruise and stay in Paris. We were very fortunate with our weather during the Baltic sailing, the only cold, rainy day was Stockholm. Paris was fabulous, we all agreed that we need to go back for longer visit.

That's great that you had mostly good weather on your Baltic cruise, and that you loved Paris. Did you have time to go to Disneyland Paris, too?

In the back ofSuper Shuttle now...15 more minutes until home. Iceland was amazing and we hope to go for longer next year! No pics of LastSupper ... No cameras allowed. MacBook Pro crashed in Barxelona so all pics still. On memory cards. Loved both cruises!!

Welcome back, Mandy! I'm so glad to hear you loved Iceland, as we had poor weather and not enough port time in Reykjavik on a Transatlantic cruise a few years ago.

Henrietta, Mandy, and Woody - would you care to make any comparisons of DCL vs. NCL in Europe?

 

[kaseyC]

That's great that you had mostly good weather on your Baltic cruise, and that you loved Paris. Did you have time to go to Disneyland Paris, too?

Nancy, we did a day trip to Disneyland Paris. Took the RER train down. The weather became cold and rainy that day but on the bright side there were no long waits for attractions. We easily did everything the girls wanted to do at both parks.

 

[birkner]

Nancy, we did a day trip to Disneyland Paris. Took the RER train down. The weather became cold and rainy that day but on the bright side there were no long waits for attractions. We easily did everything the girls wanted to do at both parks.

When we to DLP after the EBTA, we did not find any long lines at either park for any of the rides. Most disappointing was Thunder Mountain was closed for upgrade.

 

[geffric]

Just say when! I'm always up for a trip to Deerpark and getting together with you two would be icing on the cake!

Any time. I'll message (PM) everyone.

Welcome Home,

To Mandy and Curt,

Here comes the postman with a big case of post cruise "blues". For me, because I had done a lot of great cruises I didn't really think I would have enjoyed this so much, however that's not the case, because of the effort put in by yourself and others on these boards this helped in making lots of new friends. Thanks.

See you soon and hopefully the "little one" will give you more of a chance to enjoy some of the activities.

Ill second that.. it was a magical journey.Thanks again.

 

[woody73]

We just returned home a few hours ago. Had a fantastic time on both cruises (DCL EBTA and NCL Grand Med), and on the land portions (three nights in Barcelona, and three nights in Venice). Overall, it was a nice balance.

It was great to sail with so many existing DIS friends, and to meet new ones.

Many thanks to those who organized activities. Mandy did an exceptional job with both cruises, and I'm just going to book any cruise she's on!

Kudos to DCL for adding new performers to the mix. Also, the litho was a nice bonus.

Woody

 

[Kirbo]

We just returned home a few hours ago. Had a fantastic time on both cruises (DCL EBTA and NCL Grand Med), and on the land portions (three nights in Barcelona, and three nights in Venice). Overall, it was a nice balance.

It was great to sail with so many existing DIS friends, and to meet new ones.

Many thanks to those who organized activities. Mandy did an exceptional job with both cruises, and I'm just going to book any cruise she's on!

Kudos to DCL for adding new performers to the mix. Also, the litho was a nice bonus.

Woody

I hear you about booking Mandy cruises! I just wish she were going to be on our EBTA next year

 

[binkytell]

Ladies,

I think it's time for people to start posting pics of the Champagne Girls event, if like me you just happened to be in Diversion at then end and were accosted by some ladies in mid binge. Anyway here's the proof.







A bevy of lovelies, can't you tell none of them are sober

Does anyone else have pictures.

Hahaha love these pics Stevie, would you be surprised to know that I don't even remember getting these taken.

I had such a great time at this event and all signed up for next year
Only this time if I have signed up for something the next day I will try better to make it instead of sending my poor husband to sit alone to do chocolate tasting he didn't even want to do!