What a Wonderful World!!! PTR updated 11/26/2014 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Well I told myself I was going to wait until this trip was about a month away before I start a PTR……………..but who am I kidding???? I’m just way too excited. My friends and family are probably sick of hearing me talk about it, so I come to “my people” you guys are always up for talking Disney……..( that’s why I love ya all too)………..so here we go!!!!
WHEN:
May17th-June2nd
WHERE:
2 nights Residence Inn Port Canaveral, FL
12 nights Disney Magic
2 nights Hotel Colon Barcelona, Spain
WHY:
Well this is a BIG year for us, so this trip had to be BIG as well. May 14th will be our 10yr wedding anniversary and August 15th will be my 40th birthday!!! Whoop Whoop!!! I feel like Arnaud and I just were married yesterday….can’t believe 16yrs has gone by, moved cross country and then back again, 10 yrs. married, 2 houses, 2 pets and 2 adorable little kids!!! Me turning 40…….well I know most people fear that……..I guess I’m a bit different because all I can do is just keep laughing about it. Just doesn’t seem possible that I will be 40………….my god, I still feel (ok well not really feel) like I’m in my twenties. I act like it most of the time to……..OK, well not really, I mean I am a mom and on the PTO……….HAHAHA……..again, just the sound of those 2 things make me laugh. All right, enough Linny.
Last December I called my fabulous TA Pixie Michele and told her we needed something grand…….she suggested a week on the Fantasy. We decided to do that with like a 4 night stay in WDW. Booked the cruise and then was just waiting to book our hotel stay at the GF/CL!! Then May rolled around and Mel sucked me in with her TR on the Magic doing a trans-Atlantic crossing. Every day I was more and more obsessed with her travels, here on PP and also on FB…………towards the end of her trip I couldn’t take it anymore. All the lovely sea days she had with Meri having sooooo much fun and all the snoozing d relaxing and eating Mel was doing, I had to take a look at what the price of this extravaganza was and when I saw the cost for the following year I about drop dead in my tracks. It was about $500 LESS than our Fantasy cruise……………WITH 5 EXTRA NIGHTS!!!!!! I was IN SHOCK!! I had to bring this up to Arnaud.
I really had no idea what he was going to think about this, but he is the voice of reason in the house so before I start getting all nuts, we had to have a chat. For the past 10 yrs. we always have talked about doing a repeat of our honeymoon, which was a 12 night med cruise on Princess. After having the kids, we knew at the time, it probably wouldt be the best idea. So I started telling him about Melanie’s trip and he was ALL OVER IT!! Checking it out, thinking about airfare options, time off from work……seriously about 2 days later I was back on the horn with Michele changing our trip!!!! A few hours later…….it was done!!! We are crossing the Atlantic with our babies and ending up in the city that started our whole honeymoon…………BARCELONA!!!!!!!
I am still in shock and as the next 3 months play out I will fill you in on all the hiccups along the way with planning, but another reason why I did decide to go ahead and start this PTR was to gain knowledge from all of you. I get to book stuff next week for excursions and such. I think I have it narrowed down to a few things. We will stop in CC, Madeira Portugal and Malaga Spain before we end up in Barcelona. So whatever ya got………..throw it out to me.
Now I do have some disappointing news for most of you who have followed all my trips in the past………I know this may come as a shock, and really, I think in the end we might all be OK……….here’s hoping. I am not planning matchy matchy outfits…………….OMG, I KNOW…………the horror!!! I’m sure for a few dinners I will, but for the most part, I plan to be in bathing suits and cover ups, flip flops and most importantly……………cocktails in hand!!!!
OH and the title of this PTR……….you all know I love using song titles, music is everything to me so this one was a no brainer. “What a Wonderful World” was our wedding song………..I’ll share in a later update of how that came to be. At the time we were getting married I was a backup singer/dancer in Legends In Concert and my good friend who is a Luis Armstrong impersonator said to me once, whenever you cats get married, I’d be happy to sing your song for you. Well as luck would have it, he was in our AC show at the time… ……and sure enough, he sang OUR song for us.
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What an amazing trip you're going to have! I just wish I was going with!
And what?! No matchy-matchy?! Shocked I am. You created a monster in me so it's only right you continue on.
And while the photos aren't showing in the thread I did click on them and you two are just too cute! Love you!
Too exciting, Linny! The cost of the repositioning cruises, both the TA and the PC, are just so low compared to the others, you're right-- it really is a no-brainer. I remember how shocked I was at the per-night cost of the PC cruise. SO low, and you're getting transportation, meals, entertainment, kids' clubs and transportation to Spain!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
What an exciting trip! Great way to celebrate two important milestones!
And don't worry about starting your PTR early. I started mine a month ago and my trip is in June. I was just so excited, I couldn't hold it in any longer.
And no matchy-matchy? Wow, didn't see that one coming. Maybe you can try getting matchy swimsuits...
What an amazing trip you're going to have! I just wish I was going with!
And what?! No matchy-matchy?! Shocked I am. You created a monster in me so it's only right you continue on.
And while the photos aren't showing in the thread I did click on them and you two are just too cute! Love you!
I would LOVE all those sea days with my gals I have created little monsters I know, but no worries.......I'm sure there will be some matchy going on
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great start!
THANKS!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Too exciting, Linny! The cost of the repositioning cruises, both the TA and the PC, are just so low compared to the others, you're right-- it really is a no-brainer. I remember how shocked I was at the per-night cost of the PC cruise. SO low, and you're getting transportation, meals, entertainment, kids' clubs and transportation to Spain!
Yeah, it is a fabulous deal and if you can get the time to do it......why not. We always seem to have more fun ON the ship anyway, so this is gonna work great for us. Plus I do like the fact Arnaud and I can get some alone time with nice dinners and cocktails.........it is our anniversary
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
What an exciting trip! Great way to celebrate two important milestones!
And don't worry about starting your PTR early. I started mine a month ago and my trip is in June. I was just so excited, I couldn't hold it in any longer.
And no matchy-matchy? Wow, didn't see that one coming. Maybe you can try getting matchy swimsuits...
Whew, I knew I wouldn't be alone with my excitement on starting a PTR. Matchy swimsuits.......I'll see what I can do for ya
When we booked the cruise we knew would finally want to cash in on my Business Amex points and fly free with those. So we started to look into flights home from Barcelona and it turns out I could only transfer my points to be used with Delta………..OK, Delta it is. I have over 6yrs worth of points added up on this card that I have never touched so it looked as though we would need 90,000 points plus $250 in fees to pay, GREAT!! Arnaud went to go book one night and it wasn’t going though……….here that was PER PERSON!!!!!!!!! OMG I wanted to scream. I thought briefly about changing the trip back to the Fantasy and Arnaud said NO WAY.
He started looking into his miles with United. He didn’t quite have enough but a few weeks late he got an email that he could purchase more points at 25% off, so he jumped on the offer and bought the extra points we needed. Not a great deal but for $1,000 we have flights home from Spain to Philly.
Now what to do with these Delta points I already pushed over??? Guess we will book our flights to MCO with them. Sounds like a good plan until we realized Delta has ZERO direct flights from Philly to MCO………so we have to connect in Atlanta. Nothing irks me more than a connecting flight to somewhere that is so close. But a free flight can make me look past that…………..for now.
Off to book hotels now. Arnaud has Marriot points so we booked the Residence Inn at PC for 2 nights before the ship sails with using those points. That was easy. His sister and family live in Boca, so they are going to drive up and spend some time with us that weekend before we sail. I’m pretty sure we will all go and check out Ron Jon’s Surf Shop and let our nephews go out surfing with Arnaud…….hopefully Josie too.
For our stay in Barcelona I had asked a lot of questions on our cruises FB page for suggestions on family friendly hotels close to Las Ramblas and Hotel Colon seemed to be the obvious choice and also had great reviews on Trip Advisor. So we booked 2 nights there as well. It is smack across the square from the Gothic Cathedral and I couldn’t be more excited about that. When we were there in 2004, the whole front was covered with scaffolding.
Now for a rental car to get from MCO to PC and have for the weekend. Arnaud again has points with National so he’s been looking up a car on their site and all they keep showing is a Mustang convertible or a 19 passenger van…………..uhm yeah, neither of those will work for us. I mean my boys are BIG and I do not travel light, but come on 19 passenger van??? I don’t think so. Anyone have a good car rental company they like to use while in Florida??
I think you did GREAT with the airfares. I hate anything but a non-stop flight, too, but in this case, I think I'd take it as well. The hotel in Barcelona sounds perfect.
Congrats on the airfare! We always use Avis whenever we're in Florida, as we find them good value - and for us, the price includes all the insurances we need as foreign drivers.
What a mess with the flights, but you still got a great deal! I know it's just a hassle though.
And that hotel in Barcelona is fabulous! I really hope you get a room with a great view!
About This Page: 
. My friends and family are probably sick of hearing me talk about it, so I come to “my people” you guys are always up for talking Disney……..( that’s why I love ya all too)………..so here we go!!!!
……..again, just the sound of those 2 things make me laugh. All right, enough Linny.
!! I had to bring this up to Arnaud.
!! Checking it out, thinking about airfare options, time off from work……seriously about 2 days later I was back on the horn with Michele changing our trip!!!! A few hours later…….it was done!!! We are crossing the Atlantic with our babies and ending up in the city that started our whole honeymoon…………BARCELONA!!!!!!!
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Pixie Dust
You created a monster in me so it's only right you continue on. 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
Wow, didn't see that one coming. Maybe you can try getting matchy swimsuits... 
………..OK, Delta it is. I have over 6yrs worth of points added up on this card that I have never touched so it looked as though we would need 90,000 points plus $250 in fees to pay, GREAT!! Arnaud went to go book one night and it wasn’t going though……….here that was PER PERSON
.
. But a free flight can make me look past that…………..for now
uhm yeah, neither of those will work for us. I mean my boys are BIG and I do not travel light, but come on 19 passenger van??? I don’t think so. Anyone have a good car rental company they like to use while in Florida?? 
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