Pre-Trip It’s not about Ryan Gosling, but there is a Gosling involved – A DCL Bermuda PTR

As professor Matthew McConaughey states, “alright, alright, alright,” let’s get this
Bermuda PTR party started!

Your eyes do not deceive you. Yes, it is I (or me – lol grammar) who will write or at least begin this PTR.

Here are the basics:

Who’s going on this cruise? Yes, you guessed it…me and @lostpro9het .

Again, the kid is not invited.

When is this amazing adventure going to happen? October 17 – 22

Where are we going? Bermuda. Yes, the same Bermuda as the Bermuda triangle.

Why? Well, why not? It’s our 21st anniversary. Plus, #tonyfromspain will be the club host. He’s been on our past 3 cruises (Dream and Fantasy), so it’s a nice treat for our 1st voyage on the Magic.

The itinerary:

We’re flying to NYC (to LGA – yes, I know it’s terrible) and staying in a hotel overnight. We do not want to chance a same-day flight. We’ll grab and uber/taxi to port the next morning.

October 17 – New York City – We’ve never been, so we’re pretty excited.
October 18 – At sea – this may be the Halloween day. We have costumes.
October 19 – Bermuda – Beach Day; We have a Gosling rum sunset cruise planned for the evening
October 20 – Bermuda – Pirate Night; We have a catamaran excursion planned; Palo dinner
October 21 – At sea
October 22 – New York City – we fly back home on this date.

We have no other excursions planned. Mostly, we’re winging it.

We have another aft stateroom. We really think this is the best location on the ships.

From what I’ve read, Bermuda’s pretty nice. I’ve looked up prices of things, and they’re quite high. I read that everything pretty much has to be imported. Think Disney prices.

We’ve received our luggage tags (it's a sad little folder now), but that’s really it. We’ve yet to really do anything for this trip. One of us will update when something new happens.

If you’d like to cruise with us, I’m sure there are plenty of staterooms left!

 

[imahistorygeek]

I'm in! You make me want to try another cruise, even though the one and only cruise we have been on (not disney) we hated.

What aspect of the other cruise did you hate?

 

[Rista1313]

What aspect of the other cruise did you hate?

Well it was several years ago.. and we were very tight on money, so this may have been part of the problem... and we went on THAT cruiseline... you know.. the cheapy one. What I didn't like is that I felt we were being nickeled and dimed to death... nothing was included, and things were expensive! $20 per bingo card?? What the what? That was crazy to me.

The other part could be just us and the way we travel... hubby is a doer.. he wants to go go go.. so sitting in the sun by the pool is not his thing. He was bored. We had the best time on port days and at night when there was dinner and entertainment.

eta: and we don't drink too much anymore so that's not an option (and at that time, we couldn't afford it.. tight budget at that time)

 

[imahistorygeek]

Well it was several years ago.. and we were very tight on money, so this may have been part of the problem... and we went on THAT cruiseline... you know.. the cheapy one. What I didn't like is that I felt we were being nickeled and dimed to death... nothing was included, and things were expensive! $20 per bingo card?? What the what? That was crazy to me.

The other part could be just us and the way we travel... hubby is a doer.. he wants to go go go.. so sitting in the sun by the pool is not his thing. He was bored. We had the best time on port days and at night when there was dinner and entertainment.

If you decide to cruise again, I would go with a port-heavy itinerary. I feel as though there are a lot of things to do on Disney cruises that are included in your fair. We were always doing something even when at a port.

 

[lostpro9het]

17 days out!

We did a little field research yesterday in preparation for the beer exchange. We drove about an hour north to beautiful Blue Ridge for some outstanding cue and great beer.

I ended up buying my exchange contribution as well. I'll bring 3 porters and 3 of the chocolate wheat beers. I've brought the porter a few times on previous exchanges but the chocolate wheat is a first timer.

Still no packing has taken place but we did pull out our costumes for the trip. The DW threatened to take the luggage out today and start packing but lets just say the luggage is still stowed away. We had a serious case of vacation creep try to take hold yesterday but airline change fees and NYC hotel prices in mid fall convinced us otherwise. We did discuss the 2021 Spring itineraries that came out last week but nothing really spoke to us. We've been tossing around the idea of a family Christmas trip in 2020 with my Bride's folks. That trip combined with a July trip might have us in APs again next summer and change our vacation habits the moths after. 2 weeks and change to go!

 

[Zipadeelady]

How do you go about setting up your beer exchange meets?

 

[lostpro9het]

How do you go about setting up your beer exchange meets?

Step 1: Cut a hole in the b... oh wait, wrong instructions.

Hop on Facebook, you know that social media platform for old people, and search for the Facebook cruise group for your cruise. Join said FB group, get approval from the group admin to post an event, then create an event inside of it, and invite all group members. Ill send out reminders to the FB group periodically until we hit 20ish people. FYI, this will probably only be applicable to DCL cruises as I don’t know of another cruise line that allow BYOB.

 

[Tiggerish]

I take it y’all are staying in a Manhattan hotel? I’m local and would be happy to faux-Uber you from LGA to your domicile.

I’m not weird (well, maybe a little, but I’m not psycho) and you wouldn’t be the first WDWMAGIC friends I’ve shuttled into midtown. The offer is sincere, just PM me if you want a lift (pun intended)

I’ve booked a NY-Bermuda cruise for next year. I didn’t even realize they were sailing this route in 2019!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Step 1: Cut a hole in the b... oh wait, wrong instructions.

Hop on Facebook, you know that social media platform for old people, and search for the Facebook cruise group for your cruise. Join said FB group, get approval from the group admin to post an event, then create an event inside of it, and invite all group members. Ill send out reminders to the FB group periodically until we hit 20ish people. FYI, this will probably only be applicable to DCL cruises as I don’t know of another cruise line that allow BYOB.

I feel like i've just been called old.

I checked and so far no group has been started for my depart date yet (on RCL). I don't want start it myself since I've never even been a cruise and know nothing about cruising. I'll just keep checking.

 

[lostpro9het]

I take it y’all are staying in a Manhattan hotel? I’m local and would be happy to faux-Uber you from LGA to your domicile.

I’m not weird (well, maybe a little, but I’m not psycho) and you wouldn’t be the first WDWMAGIC friends I’ve shuttled into midtown. The offer is sincere, just PM me if you want a lift (pun intended)

I’ve booked a NY-Bermuda cruise for next year. I didn’t even realize they were sailing this route in 2019!

Awesome. Currently we’re booked at a place close to LGA because we have a very late flight in. Small chance these details may change.

I feel like i've just been called old.

I checked and so far no group has been started for my depart date yet (on RCL). I don't want start it myself since I've never even been a cruise and know nothing about cruising. I'll just keep checking.

Time to accept, we’re up there.

We ran into the same issue with our NCL trip, couldn’t find a FB cruise group for that either.

 

[imahistorygeek]

I take it y’all are staying in a Manhattan hotel? I’m local and would be happy to faux-Uber you from LGA to your domicile.

I’m not weird (well, maybe a little, but I’m not psycho) and you wouldn’t be the first WDWMAGIC friends I’ve shuttled into midtown. The offer is sincere, just PM me if you want a lift (pun intended)

I’ve booked a NY-Bermuda cruise for next year. I didn’t even realize they were sailing this route in 2019!

We seriously may take you up on this. We're staying in a hotel in Astoria close to the airport. I've read that it's about a $50 ride to the port.

 

[kk0311]

I checked and so far no group has been started for my depart date yet (on RCL). I don't want start it myself since I've never even been a cruise and know nothing about cruising. I'll just keep checking

RCL does not allow any beer to be brought on the ship. You may however bring 2 bottles of wine per state room.

 

[Zipadeelady]

RCL does not allow any beer to be brought on the ship. You may however bring 2 bottles of wine per state room.

Thanks so much for the info. Here's a question for you. They have my husband and I listed in one room and my 16 year old son and his friend in another room. Could I bring 2 bottles for each room even though they are both under 21? Maybe 4 bottles is too much for a 5 day cruise.

 

[lostpro9het]

Maybe 4 bottles is too much for a 5 day cruise.

Ive met you and its not.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Ive met you and its not.

 

[lostpro9het]

Still hasn’t sunken in that we are this close:

With the final countdown on I actually did most all of my packing yesterday! I paid special attention to the priorities too

That’s actually two bottles of Apothic, can you believe that? After 8 cruises of rum bootlegging and I go legit for this trip. Not sure what’s come over me. Anyway, the beer exchange is up to 36, largest group ever! Im contemplating ways to manage all those picks before our mustering.

We’re still hopeful Delta allows us an earlier flight into NYC so we may take in a sight or two.

So close.

 

[Epcotfan21]

Wait. I just realized that we’re in NYC the same time this week. I’m there for work 15th-17th and staying in lower Manhattan. Meet up for a beer or two???

 

[lostpro9het]

Wait. I just realized that we’re in NYC the same time this week. I’m there for work 15th-17th and staying in lower Manhattan. Meet up for a beer or two???

Depends on if we can get an earlier flight up. Right now we arrive late on the 16th and have a late morning port arrival time on the 17th. We’re hoping for a different flight up but wont know about that until Tuesday.

 

[coachwnh]

Does anyone have experience at AT&T's international day pass? It's $10/day per device. We were considering using it in Bermuda. Both of us will have to do some work that requires the internet. We've used ship internet before and purchased the large pkg, which seems to be enough, but we'd also like to use our phones for texting, calling, etc.

Yes. We used it in Eastern Europe this summer. Had zero issues calling and texting. We added it online before we left, and turned it off again when we got back. Unlimited texts and calls. If you are planning on getting it primarily for using the wifi, that was useless at best. We rented a pocket wifi and had that shipped to our hotel in Prague and returned it from a post office in Prague on the last day. Traveled through Czechia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia and were always able to call or text. The company we used was from France. Not sure. They ship to the US and Canada. Maybe they will ship to Bermuda. The company is called Hippocket. Very reasonable price. We also used them in England and France a few years ago. So, if its wifi you need, that a better bet. Plus, its cheaper than the $10 a day. Not sure what Disney charges for the package on the ship. Hope this helps

 

[Epcotfan21]

Depends on if we can get an earlier flight up. Right now we arrive late on the 16th and have a late morning port arrival time on the 17th. We’re hoping for a different flight up but wont know about that until Tuesday.

Sounds good. I’ll check back on the thread to see if anything changes.

 

[Epcotfan21]

@lostpro9het @imahistorygeek I went to a cool tiny craft beer bar on Bleecker St called The Blind Tiger. Definitely check it out if you have the time.