May 28, 2011 - 11 Night Mediterranean Sailing from Barcelona

[DopeyFan1966]

Anyone else out there going on this cruise. I just booked it last week while on the cruise.

Here is a website I've started on this cruise. Someone on our last cruise did the same thing, hopefully I will be able to make this one half as good as his. I will continually update it as I can. I have not completed all the pages yet. Eventually as people start booking private excursions and have openings for others I will post that on the site also.

http://5-28-11-medcruisers.weebly.com/


Useful Info issued by DCL re: Med cruises

Barcelona Port info and times

Airport to Port - 30-40 mins drive
No parking at terminal

Check-in open - around 10-10.30am (DCL brochure says 10am, email says 10.30)
Check in at terminal to be complete by 4pm, after 4pm check-in done onboard
Embarkation - begins approx 1pm
Mandatory Lifeboat drill - 5pm
Sails from barcelona - 9.30pm

Disboard Members on this Cruise:
1. DopeyFan1966 (Cindy) 44 (Belgium)
DH (Andy) 45
DD (Skylar) 9 (at the time of sailing)
Celebrating: 17th Wedding Anniversary
Stateroom: Cat 5C GTY
early seating

2. CmpkC (Cathy)
DH (Chris)
DD (Caitlin)
Celebrating: Graduation
Stateroom:

3. TizzrdLizzrd (Leslie)
DBF (Ed)
DD (Chelsea) 18
DD (Reagan) 4
Celebrating: First Cruise, Chelsea's Graduation
Stateroom: 8548

4. Htmlkid (Glenn) (Florida)
DW Barbara
DD Christina (11)
Celebrating:
Stateroom: 6026
late seating

5. Friends of Htmlkid
DH Mong
DW Htwe
DD Jennifer
Stateroom: 6024

6. Disneymom13176 (Amy) (Kentucky)
DH (Brian)
DS (Chris) 12
DS (Andrew) 6
DM (Sue)
Celebrating:
Stateroom: 6637 and 6638

7. Jettybean (Jeanne) (Tennessee)
DH Billy
DD Jagger(10)
Celebrating:
Stateroom: 7138
early seating

8. Lawelch (Laurie) (Colorado)
DH Doug
DS Alexander (17)
DD Catherine (14)
Celebrating: 24th Anniversary
Stateroom 7001

9. Kaceyisme (Karen) (New York)
DH Ken
DS Bryan (18)
DMIL Theresa
Celebrating:
Stateroom Deck 7 "secret" verandahs
early seating

10. Marymom (Mary 44)
DH David-42
DS Andrew-17
DD Kirsten-15
DD Rebekah-13
DS Will-11
Celebrating:
Stateroom: 2107 and 2109
late seating

11. Scrappycruiser (Bruce) (Virginia)
DW Gina
Celebrating
Stateroom: 7632
early seating
Traveling with Cousin Orvill
celebrating 1st Platinum cruise and 35th Wedding Anniversary

12. Cousin Orville (Kevin) (Texas)
DW Kate
DS Liam (1)
DS Gavin (6)
Celebrating:
Stateroom: 8076

13. Flower91882 (Danielle)
Stateroom:
Celebtating:

14. Floridahippy (Fi) (United Kingdom)
DH Pete
Stateroom:
Celebtating:

15. Silvergoldberry (Pennsylvania)
9 or 10 cruisers
4 staterooms

16. Halo (Don) 46 (London)
DW Gaynor
DD1 Caitlin 11 (just - at the time of sailing)
DD2 Grace 8 (9th birthday on the cruise )
DS Jack 5
Celebrating: the girl's birthdays
Staterooms: 2122 and 2124

17. RaglanRoad (Trisha) (California)
DM Gloria
DA Cindy
stateroom: deck 6 w/veranda
Celebrating:
early seating

18. David & Jane (David) (Manchester, England)
DW Jane
Stateroom: 7088
Celebrating:

19. Madclfan (MA)
DW
Celebrating:
Stateroom:

20. dsjames
DH
DS
Celebrating:
Stateroom:

21. Annichan (37) (Annika) (Germany)
Christian (34)
Celebrating: 3d Anniversary
Stateroom: 7618
late seating

22. Vicky29
DD Elizabeth (3)
DM Janet
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

23. kcashner
DD (20)
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

24. kelvinwyng
Iris
Stateroom:
Celebrating:
First Cruise
late seating

25. DaisyKate
Fiance
Celebrating: Honeymoon
Stateroom:

26. micknstang (Scott)
Jason
Deck 5, SPH
Late Seating
Celebrating Scott's 40th B-day and Jason's 45th B-day
going to DLP for 3 nights after cruise

27. livelovelaugh06 (Rachelle) (39)
DGM Lee aka Grandma Peabody (65)
DD Jessica (21)
DS Joseph aka cub (6)
Deck 6
late seating
Celebrating:

28. Nanarella (Nancy)
DH John
DS Greg
stateroom: 5622
late Seating
celebrating Greg's graduation

29. VickidiBobbidiBoo (Vicki) (32)
DH Dan (32) (DisneyDan24)
Stateroom: 5624
Celebrating:
late seating

30. pamelak (Pamela) (Liverpool)
DH Simon
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

30. Maltese5 (Shirley)
DH Peter
DS Matthew(16)
Stateroom: 7598
Celebrating

31. Elsareen (Elsa) (Puerto Rico)
DGM Elsie
DS Joaquim (11)
DD Elena (9)
Main Seating
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

33. Canadia Koda (Rachel) (25)
DM
Stateroom: 6303
Celebrating:
Late seating

34. EyeDisneyCruise (Trisha)
DH Ben
DD Alexandra (6)
DS4 Zachary (4)
Stateroom: 6550
Late Seating

35. nhmomofson (Kimberly)
DH
Stateroom:Cat 9 gty
Celebrating: Kimberly's 40th Birthday

36. Melo597 (Melissa) (Chicago)
DH Randy
DD Kaylin(4)
DD Allie (3)
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

37. Mog's Mom (Colleen) (Ottowa)
DH David
DS Kieran (14)
DD Jenna (11)
Stateroom: 6532

38. klsdisney (Karen) (Albany)
DM Diane
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

39. LaEsmralda (Jamie) 30 (Germany)
DH Jess (33)
DD Lorelei (5)
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

40. Disney Bob (Rob)
DW Lindsey
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

41. calihannah (Hannah) - 32
DH - 32
DD1 - will be 4 in 2 weeks
DD2 - will be 6.5 months at cruise time
celebrating: 8066
stateroom:

42. taitai1 (Diane)
DH Gary
Stateroom 6634
Early Seating

43. heidielizabeth (Heidi)
DH John
DS Jack (11)
DD Lauren (9)
DS Jesse (7)
DS Justin (5)
DD Annabella (2)
celebrating: Justin and Annabella's birthday
Staterooms: 1068 and 1066

44. Boomerang4 (Meg )
DH Greg
DS Cooper (5)
DS Spencer (3)
Celebrating: A milestone birthday for DH

45. turbojsf (Marchelle)
DH Art
DD Taryn (12)
DS DJ (9)

46. full quiver (Honey)
DH Frank (44)
DS Damien (9)
DS Zane (6)
DS Lucien (4)
DD Season (3)
DS Quinn(1)

47. maddisney (Olga) (Belgium)
DH Marc (43)
DS Florian (1)
Early seating
Celebrating Florian 2nd birthday

48. krystyneb (Kystyne)
DD Angeline (19)
Stateroom:
Celebrating:

49. wildonethirtyseven (Jay)
DS Alex (11)
DS Jerry (13)
Stateroom:
Celebrating: both DS birthdays
50. Thekoeppens (Curt)
DW Sharon
Stateroom: 2100
Celebrating: Birthday

51. Bama4ever (Melody)
DH Matt
DD Gracie (8)
Celebrating: 10 year anniversary and DH Birthday
Late Seating

52. the_cave_crew (Jon)
DW (Beth)
DD (Alyssa) 14
DD (Emma) 12
Celebrating: The first time going to Europe with the girls.
Stateroom: 6012

53. THSMaster (Barbara)
DH Larry
Stateroom: 7072
early dining:
celebrating:

54. Simian (The Netherlands)


55. dylan'smom (Bev)
DH Gary
early dining
stateroom: 7131

56. FLCMPirate82 (Amanda) (Florida)
DH Christian
Grandpa Joe
Grandma Chloetaa
Celebrating: Our first Dis Cruise and 1st Med Cruise, DH's first time Overseas!
Stateroom: One Verandah for the Grandparents, deck 6, One outside view for us, Deck 2
Early Seating

57. tripodjw - Jane
DH - Heath
6th DCL cruise
Stateroom - OGT
No celebrations

58. pj-atsea (Pat)
DD Michelle
early seating
stateroom - 6056

59. Tinkfan4 (Vikki)
DH Ken
DS Tyler
DS Austin

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list :thumbsup2

[CmpkC]

We booked in April to celebrate DD's high school graduation. Will be me (Cathy), DH Chris, and DD (Caitlin). Really looking forward to it!

:cool1: :yay: :banana:

[DopeyFan1966]

Welcome.

Have you done this cruise before? We just did it in May of this year and it was amazing. If you have any questions please let me know and I will try to answer them for you. I am not a Disney Cruise expert but I will try to give you any information that I might be able to.

Cindy

[tizzrdlizzrd]

My DD (Reagan) and I (Leslie) will be on this cruise, our first, and we are so excited! Reagan will be four when we sail, and we are in stateroom 8548. The only thing we are celebrating is our first cruise. Woo hoo!

[htmlkid]

We will be on the cruise. Myself, My wife and our 10 year old daughter. hoping to meet up with people from here and other girls for my daughter to hang with.

[DopeyFan1966]

Welcome to all of you. If you have any questions, ask me and I will try to answer.

Let me know what your stateroom is and if you are celebrating anything on the cruise and I will add that to the first post.

Cindy

[tizzrdlizzrd]

Cindy,

I updated some of my information in my previous post.

I was wondering what your favorite and least favorite things were about the Med cruise you just finished? What will you do differently on your next cruise, and what do you think is a must do/see for a first timer?

Leslie

[DopeyFan1966]

Cindy,

I updated some of my information in my previous post.

I was wondering what your favorite and least favorite things were about the Med cruise you just finished? What will you do differently on your next cruise, and what do you think is a must do/see for a first timer?

Leslie

We enjoyed the entire trip. You may not be interested in doing an excursion in Tunis (unless you leave your daughter at the Kids Club). We will probably not do any excursion in Tunis next year, if we do it will be only to Carthage. We will definatley go to Pompeii again, it was awesome. Rome was incredible. Next year we are going to do Cinque Terra from the port of Le Spezia. And, we might not do anything in the port of Villefranche.

Your daughter is going to have a great time. There are so many characters out everyday. My daughter loved the kids clubs.

I'm working on a website to post here for you guys to go to for more information.

We only did Disney Excursions in Malta, Tunis, and La Spezia. We didn't do anything in Corsica but walk down to the beach for a while. The other ports we did private excursions with other families and split the cost (it ended up costing less and I feel we got a better tour). I will be adding links to private tour companies to the website I'm creating, plus I will post who is taking private tours and if they have any openings to share with others. (Someone else on our trip did the same thing, I don't know if I will do as well as he did, but I will try to do my best)

I will try to start a facebook page for this cruise also and post some pictures from this year's cruise.

Hope this helps for now.

[DopeyFan1966]

My DD (Reagan) and I (Leslie) will be on this cruise, our first, and we are so excited! Reagan will be four when we sail, and we are in stateroom 8548. The only thing we are celebrating is our first cruise. Woo hoo!

We stayed in 8010 this year and it was a really nice room. Does your room have a balcony? I think you will really like it, especially with just the two of you. You will have sooooo much room.

[tizzrdlizzrd]

We stayed in 8010 this year and it was a really nice room. Does your room have a balcony? I think you will really like it, especially with just the two of you. You will have sooooo much room.

We do have a balcony. She still goes to bed quite early, or will have to take a nap so I wanted to make sure we had plenty of room to spread out! This is our first cruise and will be my daughter's first international flight. Lucky for me she is a superb traveler!

I'm working on a website to post here for you guys to go to for more information.

We only did Disney Excursions in Malta, Tunis, and La Spezia. We didn't do anything in Corsica but walk down to the beach for a while. The other ports we did private excursions with other families and split the cost (it ended up costing less and I feel we got a better tour). I will be adding links to private tour companies to the website I'm creating, plus I will post who is taking private tours and if they have any openings to share with others. (Someone else on our trip did the same thing, I don't know if I will do as well as he did, but I will try to do my best)

I'm so glad to hear you are putting this together. With it just being the two of us, and on some excursions, just me, going in with some other families will be a HUGE help. I saw the website I think you are referring to, and it looked like a great place for info.

Next year we are going to do Cinque Terra from the port of Le Spezia.

After everything I've read Cinque Terra seems like so much fun! Tunisia looks like a great day to stay on the ship to me.

[DopeyFan1966]

After everything I've read Cinque Terra seems like so much fun! Tunisia looks like a great day to stay on the ship to me.

Carthage is really amazing. I wouldn't take it off my list yet.

Cindy

[disneymom13176]

We just booked! We are so excited! We have 2 staterooms one with DH and I and the other with my mom and our 2 DS. I have spent all day looking at shore excursions.

Is anyone planning to organize a FE group? I have never organized one, but I could try if someone is not already doing it. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Amy

[DopeyFan1966]

I had planned on starting one, but not until we got closer to the cruise date. I will add all the information to the website I'm working on also.

We did this cruise this year and did several private excursions with other families and the cost was less than with Disney, we also ended up doing less walking and got to see more. I will put a list of private companies on the cruise website when I get a chance. I'm working on it slowly. I have never created a website before and I'm finding it quite interesting, fun, and sometime aggrevating. I should have it complete before November.

If you give me your information I will add it to the roll call list I have started also.

Cindy
We just booked! We are so excited! We have 2 staterooms one with DH and I and the other with my mom and our 2 DS. I have spent all day looking at shore excursions.

Is anyone planning to organize a FE group? I have never organized one, but I could try if someone is not already doing it. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Amy

[disneymom13176]

I had planned on starting one, but not until we got closer to the cruise date. I will add all the information to the website I'm working on also.

We did this cruise this year and did several private excursions with other families and the cost was less than with Disney, we also ended up doing less walking and got to see more. I will put a list of private companies on the cruise website when I get a chance. I'm working on it slowly. I have never created a website before and I'm finding it quite interesting, fun, and sometime aggrevating. I should have it complete before November.

If you give me your information I will add it to the roll call list I have started also.

Cindy

Looking forward to hearing your experience! I am looking to hire a private guide for the day in Rome. I heard that it can be done for less than you would expect and with having 5 people in my party we are already looking at $1000 plus to see Rome with the excursions from Disney. I might as well see what I want to see since I cannot find a Disney excursion that goes to the places I want to go to.

Here is our info for the page: 6636 Brian (DH) and Amy; 6637 Sue (DGM), Chris (DS12) and Andrew (DS6). Let me know if you were looking for any additional info.

If I can assist with anything let me know. We are really excited!

Amy

[DopeyFan1966]

You could definately take a private tour for less than $1000. I think a private tour for 5 - 7 people was only 650 Euro, which is less than $900 (at the current exchange rate). As soon as I can get to do more work on the website I'm working on I will add the links for the private tours. Hopefully I will have it all done by November (definately before the end of December).

Our experience was awesome, this was our first cruise. I'm not good at putting things into words so I probably won't do any type of trip report. But I will answer any questions anyone has to ask.




Looking forward to hearing your experience! I am looking to hire a private guide for the day in Rome. I heard that it can be done for less than you would expect and with having 5 people in my party we are already looking at $1000 plus to see Rome with the excursions from Disney. I might as well see what I want to see since I cannot find a Disney excursion that goes to the places I want to go to.

Here is our info for the page: 6636 Brian (DH) and Amy; 6637 Sue (DGM), Chris (DS12) and Andrew (DS6). Let me know if you were looking for any additional info.

If I can assist with anything let me know. We are really excited!

Amy

[BigHugsForEeyore]

.

[DopeyFan1966]

Welcome everyone to our thread.:yay::yay::goodvibes:cool1::cool1:

[scrapycruiser]

Hi ! Planning to book this cruise when we're on our Baltic cruise 7/18.
We did the Med in 2007 and loved it ! Especially liked the Amalfi Coast, Rome and Villefrance. I know some great tour guides if anyones interested.

This time it will be me,Gina and DH, Bruce...emptynesters. Our son,dil,and 2 Grandsons plan to book as well. I'll let you know when we're booked ! :thumbsup2

[DopeyFan1966]

Hi ! Planning to book this cruise when we're on our Baltic cruise 7/18.
We did the Med in 2007 and loved it ! Especially liked the Amalfi Coast, Rome and Villefrance. I know some great tour guides if anyones interested.

This time it will be me,Gina and DH, Bruce...emptynesters. Our son,dil,and 2 Grandsons plan to book as well. I'll let you know when we're booked ! :thumbsup2

I will list a number of private tour companies on the cruise website when a I get a chance to get it completed. You can find the link to the website in my first post. I'm going to add it to my signature so it will be in all my posts so everyone won't have to keep going back to the first post.

[jettybean]

We just booked this cruise while sailing the baltic.
It will be me, my husband and 10 year old daughter.
She loved the Oceaneer Lab!!!

Please add us to the list:
Billy
Jeanne
Daughter/Jagger, 10
Cabin 7138

[lawelch]

We just booked while on the 6/24 Baltic cruise too! This will only be our second trip to Europe so we are excited to see southern Europe and having less currencies to keep track of will be nice!

We are currently booked in 7001, but would like to move to one of the cat 10's with the "secret" portholes.

We will be celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary.

Please add us to the list too.

Doug
Laurie
Alexander DS, 17 on this cruise
Catherine, DD, 14 on this cruise

[DopeyFan1966]

Ssssssooooooooooooooo jealous that you did the Baltic. I wanted to do it so bad, but booked the Med trip before I saw the Baltic. Hopefully Disney will do the Baltic again in a couple years.

Welcome to the thread.

You can click on the link in my signature to get more information about our cruise. There are also many links to things to do in our ports and private tour companies.

cindy


We just booked while on the 6/24 Baltic cruise too! This will only be our second trip to Europe so we are excited to see southern Europe and having less currencies to keep track of will be nice!

We are currently booked in 7001, but would like to move to one of the cat 10's with the "secret" portholes.

We will be celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary.

Please add us to the list too.

Doug
Laurie
Alexander DS, 17 on this cruise
Catherine, DD, 14 on this cruise

[wrennies]

We did this cruise in May (May 26 10 night) this year. Just started planning for next year. Hoping to do this one, but waiting a little longer to book....hoping for deals like last year. After last year I feel good waiting as late as March to book, but will keep an eye on sites like Travelocity to see what is avaiable.
This was such a great trip and we feel like there was so much we did not get to do that we wanted to do it again.

[DopeyFan1966]

We did this cruise in May (May 26 10 night) this year. Just started planning for next year. Hoping to do this one, but waiting a little longer to book....hoping for deals like last year. After last year I feel good waiting as late as March to book, but will keep an eye on sites like Travelocity to see what is avaiable.
This was such a great trip and we feel like there was so much we did not get to do that we wanted to do it again.

You got on the cruise ship the day we got off, my boss was also on the same cruise with you and they really enjoyed it. The 11 day cruise was really nice. I was sooo thankful for the sea day after Rome. I don't know if I could've kept up that pace without the sea day in there. I went ahead and booked it while on the cruise and now I'm waiting for the deals they had this year. I can always get a refund if the price goes down (which it already has since I book and I called Disney and they changed the price on my reservation by $1,719.00).

We got the cruise this year for 65% off with the military discount and hoping that they offer the same discount again next year.

There was so much to do that and didn't get to do that I want to go do next year. The trip was incredible, a chance of a lifetime that I'm excited to be able to do again.

Welcome to the thread and if you can check out the website I created and give me let me know if I left anything out. It is still a work in progress that I will be adding to as much as possible.

Cindy

[kaceyisme]

Hello everyone!!

We just booked this cruise!! Please add us to the list:

Karen and Ken and my DS Bryan who will be 18 then, along with my MIL Theresa. We have two of the "secret" veranda staterooms on Deck 7. I am a little dazed that we booked this. It was completly out of the blue! I can't wait to start the planning, but I have two cruises to do prior to this!! My DH and I are going on a Princess Repo cruise from NY to Puerto Rico this October to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, any my family is sailing to Hawaii in December for Christmas and New Years. All of this won't stop me though! I am in full fledged planning mode already!!

We definitely will want to take private tours because the DCL ones look way too strenuous for my dear MIL. We would love to share tours with other families.

I can't wait to get to know everyone!!

Karen

[DopeyFan1966]

WELCOME, I've added you to the list

What are the "secret" veranda rooms?

WOW you are going to be busy. Have fun planning those cruises.

I'm sure you will be able to find others to share private tours with, we had no troubles this year when we did it. We booked one and tagged along on two others and it was a lot of fun meeting others with things in common.

Cindy

Hello everyone!!

We just booked this cruise!! Please add us to the list:

Karen and Ken and my DS Bryan who will be 18 then, along with my MIL Theresa. We have two of the "secret" veranda staterooms on Deck 7. I am a little dazed that we booked this. It was completly out of the blue! I can't wait to start the planning, but I have two cruises to do prior to this!! My DH and I are going on a Princess Repo cruise from NY to Puerto Rico this October to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, any my family is sailing to Hawaii in December for Christmas and New Years. All of this won't stop me though! I am in full fledged planning mode already!!

We definitely will want to take private tours because the DCL ones look way too strenuous for my dear MIL. We would love to share tours with other families.

I can't wait to get to know everyone!!

Karen

[kaceyisme]

What are the "secret" veranda rooms?

Cindy

Hi Cindy! Thanks for the welcome! The secret verandah rooms are former Cat. 5 that were re-classified to Cat. 7 due to a slightly obstructed view on one side. We have sailed in these cabins twice previously, and they are great!

[annichan]

Hello everyone!

We haven't booked yet, but are definitely looking at booking this cruise onboard during our first cruise in October (if there is still availability then ... But I am hopeful that we will find something still available).

By the way: That's a great website you have started, Dopeyfan!

So anyway, if we manage to book this onboard, I will be back on this thread in November with more info about us.

[kaceyisme]

I will list a number of private tour companies on the cruise website when a I get a chance to get it completed. You can find the link to the website in my first post. I'm going to add it to my signature so it will be in all my posts so everyone won't have to keep going back to the first post.

Thanks so much for doing this!! This is a tremendous help! I am so busy looking at private tours now!

[kaceyisme]

We haven't booked yet, but are definitely looking at booking this cruise onboard during our first cruise in October (if there is still availability then ... But I am hopeful that we will find something still available).

I don't think you'll have a problem with availability. There seems to be a lot of cabins available. I wouldn't even be surprised if the price drops even more (I hope so!!)

[DopeyFan1966]

Hello everyone!

We haven't booked yet, but are definitely looking at booking this cruise onboard during our first cruise in October (if there is still availability then ... But I am hopeful that we will find something still available).

By the way: That's a great website you have started, Dopeyfan!

So anyway, if we manage to book this onboard, I will be back on this thread in November with more info about us.

Thanks so much for doing this!! This is a tremendous help! I am so busy looking at private tours now!

I'm sure you will NOT have any problems booking this in October. We booked this trip for this past May in March. Then we booked this cruise while we were on the trip, it has already gone down in price since we booked it. I called Disney and they made a $1,719.00 adjustment to my price. :cheer2:

I still have to update the site periodically, but will do my best. When we get closer to the date and we start booking private tours I will post the openings on the website.

[BigHugsForEeyore]

.

[Marymom]

Well, I finally was able to take the plunge! My family is officially booked for this sailing! :woohoo::yay::banana: We are the Conrad family in staterooms 2107 and 2109. Our family at the time of cruise is:
David-42
Mary-44
Andrew-17
Kirsten-15
Rebekah-13
Will-11

I hope to get to know you and share some info, tips and meets! One question I did not ask the travel agent, Do we need to get visas for any of the countries? Thanks!

[DopeyFan1966]

Well, I finally was able to take the plunge! My family is officially booked for this sailing! :woohoo::yay::banana: We are the Conrad family in staterooms 2107 and 2109. Our family at the time of cruise is:
David-42
Mary-44
Andrew-17
Kirsten-15
Rebekah-13
Will-11

I hope to get to know you and share some info, tips and meets! One question I did not ask the travel agent, Do we need to get visas for any of the countries? Thanks!


Welcome to our thread

No VISAs needed. I will start working on an "official meet" around February or March. You can check out the website in my signature to find out more information regarding the cruise and to check out private tour sites. The private tours are cheaper than the Disney Excursions (especially with the size of your family). We took Disney excursions in Malta, Tunisia and La Spezia this year, next year we won't take any (we aren't taking an excursion in Tunisia, we are staying on the boat) all of our excursions will be booked with private companies.

Cindy

[kaceyisme]

Welcome to our thread

No VISAs needed. I will start working on an "official meet" around February or March. You can check out the website in my signature to find out more information regarding the cruise and to check out private tour sites. The private tours are cheaper than the Disney Excursions (especially with the size of your family). We took Disney excursions in Malta, Tunisia and La Spezia this year, next year we won't take any (we aren't taking an excursion in Tunisia, we are staying on the boat) all of our excursions will be booked with private companies.

Cindy

I'm so grateful that you have all of the helpful information in your website! We are definitely taking private tours because we feel it will be so much easier for my MIL.

[scrapycruiser]

Just returned from a wonderful Baltic cruise. We booked this cruise so are focused now on the Med ! We feel so blessed to have this opportunity, and especially so since it looks like my son and his family will be sailing with us again !! But I'll let him make that announcement.

Bruce & Gina will be in Stateroom # 5132 , Navigators veranndah
1st Seating
Barcelona, 2 days pre-cruise

Looking forward to chatting with everyone !!:surfweb:

[disneymom13176]

I have been chatting with a few of the private tour operators to get a sense of price and availability. I have learned that there is a huge festival near the Colosseum, Piazza Venezia, and Roman Forum on the day we are in Rome. This means that the area will be restricted for traffic. This particular tour operator said that in order to see the Vatican that you will have to do it early because the crowds will get heavy as it gets closer to the festival time in the evening. I am doing some additional research to learn more about the festival and if it is something that would fun.

Also, in case you were like me and not sure if you could afford a private tour or not. I have discovered for my family of 5 a private tour is less expensive than a tour through Disney. Plus, we get to see what we want to see. Something to think about and consider if you are traveling in a larger group.

Amy

[kaceyisme]

Thanks for the info and the heads up Amy. That is one of the downsides of being in port for one day. Hopefully if we are able to get to Rome early enough, we will have enougth time to see the Vatican. It is especially important to my mother in law, as she will be 81, and would dearly love to see the Vatican.

[Marymom]

We are interested in getting a private tour for Rome and Pompeii. When should we book? It seems so early right now. On another note, I think I have my brother and his family ready to change cruises from the Alaskan to the Med! :cool1: It wouldl be fun for my kids to have their cousins with them! Hope everyone is having a good week. School starts here this week.

Mary

[flower91882]

Just booked this one while we were on the 7/18 Baltic Cruise! :cool1:

Thanks for creating the website, it looks like it's going to be a big help!

For most of the Baltic ports we just hopped off the boat and walked around the cities. It looks like in quite a few of these ports, that's not going to be possible if we really want to see anything, so more excursions are going to be necessary. The excursion and tour links are going to be a huge help.

[Cousin Orville]

Also booked this on the 7/18 Baltic cruise.

Kevin (me) and Kate with our sons Gavin (6 when sailing) and Liam (1).

My parents, Scrapycruisers, will be coming as well.

We did a fair amount on our own in the Baltic but plan on taking more excursions or private tours in the Med. Looking forward to it!

[disneymom13176]

We are interested in getting a private tour for Rome and Pompeii. When should we book? It seems so early right now. On another note, I think I have my brother and his family ready to change cruises from the Alaskan to the Med! :cool1: It wouldl be fun for my kids to have their cousins with them! Hope everyone is having a good week. School starts here this week.

Mary

I am hoping to have our private tours booked before Christmas. I'm a planner and not having everything done makes me nervous. I'm sure it can be done much closer but I'm not sure my nerves could handle that. If you are doing 2;1 in Rome and 1 in Naples for Pompeii you should fine a company that offers tours in both ports and ask for a discount. A few of the ones I have talked with knocked off 50 eur per trip which was nice.

[kaceyisme]

We are definitely doing private tours for all ports (except probably Florence, which we'll do with DCL due to the distance and time issues).

We're a group of four, and I'm looking for another four people to share tours with. I've just started researching, and I have some contacts for tours that my parents used. If anyone's interested in doing some private tours together, let me know!

[kaceyisme]

I am hoping to have our private tours booked before Christmas. I'm a planner and not having everything done makes me nervous. I'm sure it can be done much closer but I'm not sure my nerves could handle that. If you are doing 2;1 in Rome and 1 in Naples for Pompeii you should fine a company that offers tours in both ports and ask for a discount. A few of the ones I have talked with knocked off 50 eur per trip which was nice.

Which companies have you been in touch with?

[Marymom]

I am hoping to have our private tours booked before Christmas. I'm a planner and not having everything done makes me nervous. I'm sure it can be done much closer but I'm not sure my nerves could handle that. If you are doing 2;1 in Rome and 1 in Naples for Pompeii you should fine a company that offers tours in both ports and ask for a discount. A few of the ones I have talked with knocked off 50 eur per trip which was nice.

Thanks for the tip! I will try to use the same company for a discount. I am going with the Naples and Rome tour. My son would rather do Herculeam?(I'm not sure about the spelling) instead of Pompeii. Has anyone done both and could give me a perspective?

Mary

[scrapycruiser]

Cousin Orville and us are using Romecabs w/ Stefano in Rome & Naples, and received a small discount. We used him in 2007 in Rome while on the DCL Magic and were impressed with the attention he showed to our Grandson ( he even bought him a 3-D book at the Colisseum ). He had a vast knowledge of Roman history. And when he took us to a resturant for lunch he gave us a cell phone to call him when we were done.

Still looking for a private guide in Villefranche.

We'll go to the beach in Corsica and the other ports we'll do DCL tours. Have almost decided on the tours. ?? about LeSpezia. In 2007 we did the Florence on your own. I highly recommend this. Florence is "compact" and easy to get around ! We did purchase tickets on line to see David (Michaelangelo ) at the Accadamia Museum.Coming back we sat in the back of the bus on the bench seat and my Grandson was able to stretch out and take a nap ! We by-passed a LONG line !! This time we'll go to either Portifino or Cinque Terre.

[kaceyisme]

Cousin Orville and us are using Romecabs w/ Stefano in Rome & Naples, and received a small discount. We used him in 2007 in Rome while on the DCL Magic and were impressed with the attention he showed to our Grandson ( he even bought him a 3-D book at the Colisseum ). He had a vast knowledge of Roman history. And when he took us to a resturant for lunch he gave us a cell phone to call him when we were done.

Still looking for a private guide in Villefranche.

We'll go to the beach in Corsica and the other ports we'll do DCL tours. Have almost decided on the tours. ?? about LeSpezia. In 2007 we did the Florence on your own. I highly recommend this. Florence is "compact" and easy to get around ! We did purchase tickets on line to see David (Michaelangelo ) at the Accadamia Museum.Coming back we sat in the back of the bus on the bench seat and my Grandson was able to stretch out and take a nap ! We by-passed a LONG line !! This time we'll go to either Portifino or Cinque Terre.

I have been in touch with Stefano also. How many people are you? We are four. I would like to find four others to share. I have someone in Villefranche if you would like to share. Their price is 490€ for eight people so if you have four, we are a perfect fit!

[scrapycruiser]

I have been in touch with Stefano also. How many people are you? We are four. I would like to find four others to share. I have someone in Villefranche if you would like to share. Their price is 490€ for eight people so if you have four, we are a perfect fit!

Rome: My son,wife and 2 Grandchildren will be with Stefano, however, DH & myself might join them. So for now we wouldn't be interested, but thanks anyway. You will really enjoy Stefano !

Villefrance : There will be 6 of us there, so, again, we wouldn't be interested.

Thanks for thinking of us ! :flower3: Looking forward to these next several months flying by !

[kaceyisme]

Rome: My son,wife and 2 Grandchildren will be with Stefano, however, DH & myself might join them. So for now we wouldn't be interested, but thanks anyway. You will really enjoy Stefano !

Villefrance : There will be 6 of us there, so, again, we wouldn't be interested.

Thanks for thinking of us ! :flower3: Looking forward to these next several months flying by !

Thanks for the reply.

Any parties of two or four who are looking to join us for private tours in Rome or Villefranche, I have booked tours and would love to share. I will be booking other ports soon so would love to share in those too. I will post when I book them. Thanks!

[bearette]

I am looking into booking this cruise. Starting the planning to see if it will work out.. .I am looking at a few days in Barcelona after the cruise is finished. Is it better to just stay around there for a few days or go someplace else?

[DopeyFan1966]

Kaceyisme, If you use a private touring company and leave the port first thing and have your driver take you straight to the Vatican you should be fine. I would buy your tickets online at the Vatican's website or have your tour company buy your tickets for you. That will save a lot of time. We got there after 1100 and the line was long, and our driver was able to get us cut into the front of the line because we already had our tickets. The place was SUPER crowded. I would do it first thing in the morning, it will be your best bet.

Thanks for the info and the heads up Amy. That is one of the downsides of being in port for one day. Hopefully if we are able to get to Rome early enough, we will have enougth time to see the Vatican. It is especially important to my mother in law, as she will be 81, and would dearly love to see the Vatican.

Amy, Private tours were great this year when we took them. The only Disney tours we took were in Malta and Tunis. We met others through the Disboards and shared the cost. It worked well and we made new friends. I've listed many private companys on the website, I'm sure there are more, but those listed are the ones that everyone on the cruise I took used. If you have others, please send me the information and I will add them to the site so others can check them out also.

Thanks for the information about the festival, now I really have to look into that also.

Also, in case you were like me and not sure if you could afford a private tour or not. I have discovered for my family of 5 a private tour is less expensive than a tour through Disney. Plus, we get to see what we want to see. Something to think about and consider if you are traveling in a larger group.

Amy

Mary, I don't know when you can book on Disney's site, I think it is 90 days out, but for the private tours you could book anytime I'm sure. They don't ask for payment until you show up, you take the tour and when they drop you off. We didn't pay for any of our tours until the end of the day.

We are interested in getting a private tour for Rome and Pompeii. When should we book? It seems so early right now. On another note, I think I have my brother and his family ready to change cruises from the Alaskan to the Med! :cool1: It wouldl be fun for my kids to have their cousins with them! Hope everyone is having a good week. School starts here this week.

Mary

Kevin, I would definately look into private tours with such a large family. It is much cheaper than the Disney excursions.


Also booked this on the 7/18 Baltic cruise.

Kevin (me) and Kate with our sons Gavin (6 when sailing) and Liam (1).

My parents, Scrapycruisers, will be coming as well.

We did a fair amount on our own in the Baltic but plan on taking more excursions or private tours in the Med. Looking forward to it!

Amy, most of the tour companys listed on the website tour in all of the Italy ports. I'm sure that they will give discounts. I only booked one excursion through them this year, we piggy backed with others that booked several others.

I am hoping to have our private tours booked before Christmas. I'm a planner and not having everything done makes me nervous. I'm sure it can be done much closer but I'm not sure my nerves could handle that. If you are doing 2;1 in Rome and 1 in Naples for Pompeii you should fine a company that offers tours in both ports and ask for a discount. A few of the ones I have talked with knocked off 50 eur per trip which was nice.

Sorry to all that I haven't updated anything. For some reason I have not received an email notifications that anyone has posted to this thread. I will get it update this week. Along with the website.

WELCOME to all that have joined. We took this cruise this past May, and we had a really good time. If anyone has questions I will try to answer them. It was our first cruise, but we enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait to take this again.

Cindy

[DopeyFan1966]

Is anyone interested in doing FE? Let me know and I will start a list also for this. It will go on the website.

Cindy

[kaceyisme]

Kaceyisme, If you use a private touring company and leave the port first thing and have your driver take you straight to the Vatican you should be fine. I would buy your tickets online at the Vatican's website or have your tour company buy your tickets for you. That will save a lot of time. We got there after 1100 and the line was long, and our driver was able to get us cut into the front of the line because we already had our tickets. The place was SUPER crowded. I would do it first thing in the morning, it will be your best bet.Cindy

Thanks Cindy - great advice! I will definitely tell the guide to do this!

[kaceyisme]

I have booked private tours in the following ports:

Civitavecchia (Romecabs -Stefano)
Naples (Pleasantravel)
Villefranche (Med Tour)

I have 8 person vans booked, and we are a party of four. I have room in each tour for four more people. If anyone wants to share these tours, please let me know, and I will tell you the details. All of these tours will be paid in Euros to the drivers the day of the tour. They have indicated that the will accept Euros or Euro Traveler's Checks. My parents used all of these tour companies in the past, and they were very happy with all of them.

I will probably also be reserving an 8 person van in La Spezia, but the contact I have won't book until November. As of now, we'll probably be doing DCL tours in Corsica, Tunis and Malta. If anyone has any tours booked in these places, I'd be interested in hearing the details. Thanks!

Karen

[flower91882]

I have booked private tours in the following ports:

Civitavecchia (Romecabs -Stefano)
Naples (Pleasantravel)
Villefranche (Med Tour)

I have 8 person vans booked, and we are a party of four. I have room in each tour for four more people. If anyone wants to share these tours, please let me know, and I will tell you the details. All of these tours will be paid in Euros to the drivers the day of the tour. They have indicated that the will accept Euros or Euro Traveler's Checks. My parents used all of these tour companies in the past, and they were very happy with all of them.

I will probably also be reserving an 8 person van in La Spezia, but the contact I have won't book until November. As of now, we'll probably be doing DCL tours in Corsica, Tunis and Malta. If anyone has any tours booked in these places, I'd be interested in hearing the details. Thanks!

Karen


Hey Karen, can you perhaps give more details on what your tours are going to include?

Thanks!

[kaceyisme]

Hey Karen, can you perhaps give more details on what your tours are going to include?

Thanks!

I'll PM you the details.

[scrapycruiser]

Cindy
How was the beach in Corsica ? Clean ? Chairs & Umbrellas ? Food & drinks ?
Crowded ? Lots of nudity ? We're thinking of going there on our own.

On your cruise did you hear any comments on DCL's tours to Cinque Terre OR Portifino & Santa Margarita ?

FE... I would be interested if it were just 1 gift per cabin. Traveling overseas you really have to watch your luggage weight. ( Actually, you really have to watch your own weight traveling overseas :rotfl2: ).

The last cruise I did the FE, we did 1 gift per stateroom; then if you had kids
they would do their FE in addition to the stateroom gift.

I emailed Sylvie for Villefranche 2 weeks ago, but haven't heard back. :confused3Got a quote from Revalation . Thought he was too high. 6 people, 600 Euros.

Three years ago we paid 400 Euros for the same tour, but I've lost the web address for Dream Tours. Anyone heard of them ?:confused3

[kaceyisme]

Cindy
How was the beach in Corsica ? Clean ? Chairs & Umbrellas ? Food & drinks ?
Crowded ? Lots of nudity ? We're thinking of going there on our own.

On your cruise did you hear any comments on DCL's tours to Cinque Terre OR Portifino & Santa Margarita ?

FE... I would be interested if it were just 1 gift per cabin. Traveling overseas you really have to watch your luggage weight. ( Actually, you really have to watch your own weight traveling overseas :rotfl2: ).

The last cruise I did the FE, we did 1 gift per stateroom; then if you had kids
they would do their FE in addition to the stateroom gift.

I emailed Sylvie for Villefranche 2 weeks ago, but haven't heard back. :confused3Got a quote from Revalation . Thought he was too high. 6 people, 600 Euros.

Three years ago we paid 400 Euros for the same tour, but I've lost the web address for Dream Tours. Anyone heard of them ?:confused3

I'm going with Med Tour for Villefranche. They got back to me within 24 hours. The website is med-tour.com and their e-mail is medtours@orange.fr

They are charging 490 Euro for a full day tour for an 8 person van.

Here's the website for Dream Tours:

http://www.dream-tours.com/excursion/PORT-DE-VILLEFRANCHE/port_de_villefrancheus.php

They seem more expensive though.

[DopeyFan1966]

We walked to the beach in Corsica, we were going to do the one DCL offered but it was cancelled (not enough people). It was small, clean, hardly anyone there when we got there, started to get crowded when we left. I didn't see any nudity. No chairs, umbrellas, food, or anything else. You are on your own at the beach. It is only about a 5 minute walk away though. You could take stuff with you from the boat.

I didn't hear anything about Cinque Terra or Portifino & Santa Margarita. But, you could do Cinque Terra on your own right from the port for a lot less than DCL charges. That is what we are going to do next year.

FEs would be one per party (if the party had 2 staterooms, it would still be 1 FE) it is too hard to do this traveling overseas. Plus, on the last cruise we had 36 or so and we split it into 2 groups so it made it a lot easier to take 18 FEs rather than 36.

Hope this helps.

Cindy


Cindy
How was the beach in Corsica ? Clean ? Chairs & Umbrellas ? Food & drinks ?
Crowded ? Lots of nudity ? We're thinking of going there on our own.

On your cruise did you hear any comments on DCL's tours to Cinque Terre OR Portifino & Santa Margarita ?

FE... I would be interested if it were just 1 gift per cabin. Traveling overseas you really have to watch your luggage weight. ( Actually, you really have to watch your own weight traveling overseas :rotfl2: ).

The last cruise I did the FE, we did 1 gift per stateroom; then if you had kids
they would do their FE in addition to the stateroom gift.

I emailed Sylvie for Villefranche 2 weeks ago, but haven't heard back. :confused3Got a quote from Revalation . Thought he was too high. 6 people, 600 Euros.

Three years ago we paid 400 Euros for the same tour, but I've lost the web address for Dream Tours. Anyone heard of them ?:confused3

[silvergoldberry]

I just booked this cruise! There are going to be at least 9 of us, maybe 10, in 4 staterooms. For everyone except my daughter this is our first cruise. We are still in the research mode.

With such a large group, I doubt we will all be doing the same things every day.

My biggest challenge in this is planning for Jack, my friend in a wheelchair. This trip was his idea and I'm going to need to find private tours that can accommodate his power wheelchair in the ports. He is very disabled, cannot walk and is unable to transfer out of his chair.

I'm most wondering about Rome and Naples. He really wants to see Pompeii and what he can of Rome.

However Jack will not be able to go ashore in the tendered ports (Villefranche & La Spezia) so there's two ports I don't have to worry about.

I'm really looking forward to this cruise and perhaps finally meeting some DISers!

[bearette]

They are closed today, but I got my quote and am now going to book. i am official, as long as my husband gets the vacation days. i won't know until January though for sure.

Last Disney cruise was in 2006 so I am a little rusty on the initials. FE?

I am just now going to look into portas and a few days in Spain afterwards.

[kaceyisme]

[QUOTE=bearette;37922536]Last Disney cruise was in 2006 so I am a little rusty on the initials. FE?QUOTE]

Welcome! FE = Fish Extender.

[Cousin Orville]

Good morning.

Just as for an update - we will be in Cabin #8076.
Gavin will be 6 and Liam will be 1.
This will be our second cruise, following up our Baltic this year which was lots of fun.
We will do the FE. It will be our first time doing this, so I need to look up what people generally put in these FE.
It's tough planning this so far out when we're also working on a couple of other trips sooner, but we're still looking forward to it!

Kevin

[bearette]

Fe- duh I knew that! I usually don't do them since I have to fly to my destination and it is another thing to pack, and forget. They are cute to c though.

It is hard to get excited about a vacation so far away, but I am a planner so I enjoy the planning aspects of it.

[floridahippy]

My DH Pete and myself Fi are booked for this cruise - really excited about it. We are both rather shy though!!!!

[kaceyisme]

My DH Pete and myself Fi are booked for this cruise - really excited about it. We are both rather shy though!!!!

Hi and welcome!! My DH is shy too (not me though :goodvibes)

I got your PM and sent you the tours we booked. Let me know!

Karen

[kaceyisme]

Tour update -


we have space for two people left on the Rome tour
we have space for two people left on the Naples tour
we have space for four people left on the Nice/Monaco tour

[scrapycruiser]

Cindy
I'm planning to do the FE, infact I bought some supplies to start making them ! I actually "borrowed" an idea from my last cruise :idea:. Are we still doing 1 gift per stateroom ? If there are families with children doing the FE, do you think those cabins could exchange the kids' gifts.And those w/o kids would give 1 "cabin gift" to all cabins . Does that make sense ? I don't want to offend anyone.:rolleyes1

[Marymom]

Even though we have kids in the cabin, we would like to just do the cabin-only FE group. I don't want to load down my suitcases on international flights! We are looking at flights now but, it looks like we will drive to Miami and catch a cheap flight there. We are DVC members and I am thinking of booking a few nights at Vero Beach to recover from our vacation before we drive home. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Mary

[scrapycruiser]

Even though we have kids in the cabin, we would like to just do the cabin-only FE group. I don't want to load down my suitcases on international flights! We are looking at flights now but, it looks like we will drive to Miami and catch a cheap flight there. We are DVC members and I am thinking of booking a few nights at Vero Beach to recover from our vacation before we drive home. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Mary

We are DVC members,too. Sounds like you have a great plan at Vero. We have some Vero points , have had them for years but have never been there :rotfl2:We're considering moving to the Orlando area, so maybe then we'll get there. We usually stay at the BCV. Excited about this cruise. We did the 2007 Med cruise with Disney. This time we're going at a slower pace. Loved Florence but think we'll do Cinque Terre on our own instead. Also, we're not even going to Rome. We had a private tour to Rome last time and our guide was so fabulous...we saw everything. Anyway, it's fun planning all this !!

And we will do the FE... 1 gift per cabin !

[Marymom]

We are DVC members,too. Sounds like you have a great plan at Vero. We have some Vero points , have had them for years but have never been there :rotfl2:We're considering moving to the Orlando area, so maybe then we'll get there. We usually stay at the BCV. Excited about this cruise. We did the 2007 Med cruise with Disney. This time we're going at a slower pace. Loved Florence but think we'll do Cinque Terre on our own instead. Also, we're not even going to Rome. We had a private tour to Rome last time and our guide was so fabulous...we saw everything. Anyway, it's fun planning all this !!

And we will do the FE... 1 gift per cabin !

We have never been to Vero either! I am excited, its like getting 2 vacations! Our home is OKW, which we love. We are in the panhandle of Florida now but my husband is active duty AF. I noticed you live in Newport News. We lived in York County for four years (2004-2008). I miss the beautiful drive on Colonial Parkway to Williamsburg. The problem with planning and researching is that I want to see EVERYTHING. How to choose?:idea::idea:

[htmlkid]

We have never done FE but would love to this trip. How do we get into the group????

Also looking for info on what is better to do, book excursions with or without disney.

Thanks :)

[scrapycruiser]

We have never done FE but would love to this trip. How do we get into the group????

Also looking for info on what is better to do, book excursions with or without disney.

Thanks :)

I believe DopeyFan is planning to organize the FE. You can get alot of info by doing a search for FE. I ordered our FE holder from ebay for $30. It has our names on it and the seamstress used cute Disney colors & fabric. Some just buy a sm tote bag and hang that on the fish outside the cabin.

As far as the FE gifts, I am planning to give 1 gift per cabin. I am making mine, but not everyone does. Again, you can get FE gift ideas from these boards.
If you have children ,you might want to get together with others interested in the FE that have children to see if the children want to have their own swap.

Excursions with or without DISNEY ??? Great question !!! Hard to answer !

It depends on several things : the port, time in port, tendering or not, how adventurous you are, what you want to see or do.

We have been on many cruises over the last 30 years and have done both.

With Disney :

Most important, assured of getting back to the ship on time, Disney will wait if your DCL tour is delayed. But not if you're on your own.

With Disney they organize everything for you.

Tendering...as in La Spezia...can be timely. So DCL tours might be best esp if you're going a great distance, like Florence.
When we were there with DCL 2007 we did the DCL tour...Florence on your Own. Worked out great. Everything easy walking to, compact area. The only thing I did ahead of time was to go on line and get tickets for the Academia so we wouldn't have to wait in line.

With DCL tours, you may not have enough time on your own, for shopping or have a snack or beverage. Also, if on a tour you might not hear the guide since you're in a large group ( maybe 30 ).

It could be fun for children being on the tour bus with others their age.

Also, DCL has several tours geared toward children, where they have their own activities.

Touring on your Own :

You can plan what you want to see and when you want to go, and how much time you want to be there.

Sometimes by being on your own you can save money, especially if there are several members in your family.

Depending on the port, you can see alot just walking around town and doing some research of the region on your own before the cruise.

You can use public transportation : HOHO Buses, taxis, trains, or private tours.

Some of my personal ideas in the Med :

Malta....easy to do own your own
Tunis....I've recently read where they have a new cruise terminal and inside the terminal you can arrange for a taxi, pay there ( not having to deal with money in the taxi ), prices very reasonable, go to the places you want to see.

Naples... I would go with DCL tours OR hire a private guide. We are using a company we've used before...romecab.com
Some people do take the train from Naples to Pompeii..I wouldn't feel safe doing that.

Civitavecchia...DCL tours OR hire a private guide. We are also using romecab as we did in 2007.

LaSpezia... again, DCL or Private tour . Depends on where you want to go.
DCL's Florence on your Own ; DCL's tour to Pisa , Lucca, Portoveno and Santa Marguerita, Cinque Terre

I've heard of people going to Pisa on the train on their own.

Cinque Terre is very close, and we have decided to take the train and go on our own.

Corsica...On your Own or DCL tour. Just to walk around town or go to the beach, easy to do on your own. However, Disney does have some fun tours.I was thinking about the Sweet Corsica tour. Also, the jeep tour looks like fun.

Villefranche ....ahhhh !!!! My favorite place !! Feel in love with this charming region in 2007 !!

You have to tender here, but everything is close. No problem on your own unless you have mobility issues. There are alot of hills. The train and public buses are easy. You could easily see Monoco, Monte Carlo, Nice and Eze without a tour. However waiting for trains and buses will eat into your shore time. BUT you are in port for 11 hours.

Last time and this time we're using a private guide, revelationtours.com There are 4 adults and 2 children so it's more cost effective than taking a DCL tour. Also I have certain places I want to see: St Paul de Vence, Antibes, and either Cannes or Nice.

If I have given you more info than you wanted, I'm sorry. Also, these are just my opinions. We have traveled alot, but certainly no expert.

Have fun with your planning. For me, it's half the fun !!:flower3:

[htmlkid]

Thanks so much for all the info....

[htmlkid]

Just an FYI

Air Europa has flights from Miami leaving Thursday and returning Wednesday with a stop over in Madrid for $666 per person.

We are probally going to book it.

[scrapycruiser]

Just an FYI

Air Europa has flights from Miami leaving Thursday and returning Wednesday with a stop over in Madrid for $666 per person.

We are probally going to book it.

Excellent price ! We booked our air last week. We leave out of MIA, also, on Iberia, also stopping in Madrid for $710.:)

[DopeyFan1966]

Sorry I haven't been on in a while. I'm in the military and had to go to training. Then I was on 2 week vacay at WDW. I will get the pages updated and start the FE list.

I think we should have one FE per party/stateroom. Unless you live in Spain I think it will be a problem getting FEs in your luggage. I'm currently stationed in Europe and it was still a problem because the airlines only allowed 33 pounds per bag and we had to pay for every bag checked.

For those who were wondering what people put in FEs, this past cruise we received:

pencils, sun screen samples, stickers, magnets, note pads, candy, Disney pins, etc.

Hope that helps some of you.

[kaceyisme]

Just an FYI

Air Europa has flights from Miami leaving Thursday and returning Wednesday with a stop over in Madrid for $666 per person.

We are probally going to book it.

That's a super price! We are leaving from New York and have non-stop flights on Iberia (which are actually American Airlines flights) for $832 per person. We prefer non-stop so it is worth the extra money to us. Just a tip for anyone who hasn't booked flights yet, Iberia flights are American Airline code shares, but if you book through American you will pay much more. Book through Iberia's website and you will save lots of money.

[scrapycruiser]

Sorry I haven't been on in a while. I'm in the military and had to go to training. Then I was on 2 week vacay at WDW. I will get the pages updated and start the FE list.

I think we should have one FE per party/stateroom. Unless you live in Spain I think it will be a problem getting FEs in your luggage. I'm currently stationed in Europe and it was still a problem because the airlines only allowed 33 pounds per bag and we had to pay for every bag checked.

For those who were wondering what people put in FEs, this past cruise we received:

pencils, sun screen samples, stickers, magnets, note pads, candy, Disney pins, etc.

Hope that helps some of you.

Welcome back ! Wow...2 weeks at WDW, good for you !! Where did you stay ? Any fav resturants ? We're going for 4 days next month !

I agree with the FE gifts.

And thanks for your service to our country !!:flower3:

[DopeyFan1966]

Updated the website.

I think I have everyone in the roll call, added those participating in the FE (I'm doing 1 FE party or stateroom) and will not be doing separate for kids and adults.

If anyone wants to send me a picture to add to the roll call and FE list you can send it to me in a PM or at cindy_perrier@yahoo.com and I will add it to the website. This way we can start to get to know each other better.

Anyone who has booked private tours please send me a PM letting me know who you have booked with, which port you are booked, and if you have any openings. I will post those on the website also. Then others can PM you regarding your openings.

If you can think of anything else that needs to be added to the website or something else you would like to see on the website let me know and I will try to get it on there.

Cindy

[scrapycruiser]

Updated the website.

I think I have everyone in the roll call, added those participating in the FE (I'm doing 1 FE party or stateroom) and will not be doing separate for kids and adults.

If anyone wants to send me a picture to add to the roll call and FE list you can send it to me in a PM or at cindy_perrier@yahoo.com and I will add it to the website. This way we can start to get to know each other better.

Anyone who has booked private tours please send me a PM letting me know who you have booked with, which port you are booked, and if you have any openings. I will post those on the website also. Then others can PM you regarding your openings.

If you can think of anything else that needs to be added to the website or something else you would like to see on the website let me know and I will try to get it on there.

Cindy

Cousin Orville ( Kevin ) is in stateroom 8076

I'll email you our picture. Thanks !!:flower3:

[scrapycruiser]

Cindy

The website looks great ! Thanks for posting all the info !

Does our group have a name yet ?? I may want to add it to my FE that I'm making. My son, Cousin Orville ( Kevin ), I believe is doing the FE. But I'll let him tell you for sure.

It might be fun to see who has which Dinner seating ?? We have 1st since we're linked with my Grandsons ( 6 & 1 )

Also, I'm always interested in seeing what tours everyone is going on.

What branch of service are you in. My husband is retired Air Force.

[DopeyFan1966]

Welcome back ! Wow...2 weeks at WDW, good for you !! Where did you stay ? Any fav resturants ? We're going for 4 days next month !

I agree with the FE gifts.

And thanks for your service to our country !!:flower3:


We stayed at Coronado Springs. We love Le Cellier and Ragland Road, both have very good food. Oh yeah and the Mexican resturant inside the Pavillion.

Enjoy your vacation there.

Thanks.

Cindy

[DopeyFan1966]

Cindy

The website looks great ! Thanks for posting all the info !

Does our group have a name yet ?? I may want to add it to my FE that I'm making. My son, Cousin Orville ( Kevin ), I believe is doing the FE. But I'll let him tell you for sure.

It might be fun to see who has which Dinner seating ?? We have 1st since we're linked with my Grandsons ( 6 & 1 )

Also, I'm always interested in seeing what tours everyone is going on.

What branch of service are you in. My husband is retired Air Force.

Don't have a group name yet. I'm open for suggestions. I agree with the dining, I can't believe I forgot to added that to the website's roll call. I will add that sometime this week.

I'm in the Army and will be eligible for retirement in 5 years :banana:(actually 4 years, 11 months and 16 days, but who is counting?).:rotfl2:

Cindy

[htmlkid]

We are in the late dining.

[DopeyFan1966]

hey everyone.....

On the last Med cruise I took several of the families on the forum here got together and linked their dining so they could sit at the same table with other Dis members.

So f you do decide you want to link your dining with another party all you would have to do is contact DCL and give them your reservation numbers and let them know that you would like to have them linked.

Caution, this links your entire reservation.... if you go to book a Disney excursion you will have to pay attention and only book those in your party or you may end up booking the other party.

Let me know if you link your reservations and I will add that to the web page.

Cindy

[scottjm]

It still seems a long way off, but I think it is time to get going on the DISboards to see what is going on. We were on the EB Trans-Atlantic last year and were so envious of those doing the back2backs that we booked it the right way this year! We are just starting to consider excursions, are interested in FEs (is there a google doc spreadsheet for activities yet?) and appreciate all the great information already posted. Thanks!

[scottjm]

I forgot to mention, there are four of us, DW, DS12 and DD8. We are early seating. We like doing things on our own for excursions, but almost missed the ship in Cadiz last year. The train from Seville lost all power and stranded us in Seville with only a few hours to find an alternative. Car rentals were not available for a short trip because they were all being rented due to the volcano erupting in Iceland and airlines being shut down. We managed to get a bus that got us to the boat with 15 minutes to spare. Still, we plan on doing at least some on our own.

[scrapycruiser]

It still seems a long way off, but I think it is time to get going on the DISboards to see what is going on. We were on the EB Trans-Atlantic last year and were so envious of those doing the back2backs that we booked it the right way this year! We are just starting to consider excursions, are interested in FEs (is there a google doc spreadsheet for activities yet?) and appreciate all the great information already posted. Thanks!

:welcome:

This will be our 2nd Disney Med cruise and we're so excited. We're traveling with our son & DIL and their 2 boys. We did the Baltic cruise with them in July.
All of us are doing the FE. We have booked private guides for Naples ( Amalfi Coast ) , Rome and Villefrance. We'll probably take DCL tours in Tunis and Malta, in La Spezia we're doing Cinque Terre on our own, and probably go the beach in Corsica.
On our 1st Med cruise we did DCL's Florence on our Own. I highly recommend this. The city is very compact and very easy to get around.
I look forward to hearing everyone's plans !
GINA:flower3:

[scrapycruiser]

I forgot to mention, there are four of us, DW, DS12 and DD8. We are early seating. We like doing things on our own for excursions, but almost missed the ship in Cadiz last year. The train from Seville lost all power and stranded us in Seville with only a few hours to find an alternative. Car rentals were not available for a short trip because they were all being rented due to the volcano erupting in Iceland and airlines being shut down. We managed to get a bus that got us to the boat with 15 minutes to spare. Still, we plan on doing at least some on our own.

What a story !!!:scared1:
Yes, we like to go on our own when the situation is right.
We are also 1st seating.

[htmlkid]

Ok I just started looking at the shore excursions and its almost impossible to chose. In looking at ROME these three caught my eye....and ideas from someone who has been there or hear good or bad about any of the below:

1. Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & At. Peters Basilica
2. Best of Rome
3. Vatican City, Coliseum & Catacomes

I also notices most of the people on this board are doing the early dinner. I usally love the earlier seating but I'm afraid that with the excursions that we would never get back in time....

[kaceyisme]

We're also doing early seating. We don't like to eat late. When we were on the Panama Canal Repo in 2008, we got back late a couple of nights, and went up to Topsiders where they had sit down dining, and they would always find room for us in one of the dining rooms.

[scrapycruiser]

Ok I just started looking at the shore excursions and its almost impossible to chose. In looking at ROME these three caught my eye....and ideas from someone who has been there or hear good or bad about any of the below:

1. Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & At. Peters Basilica
2. Best of Rome
3. Vatican City, Coliseum & Catacomes

I also notices most of the people on this board are doing the early dinner. I usally love the earlier seating but I'm afraid that with the excursions that we would never get back in time....

When we were in the Med in'07, we loved the Colisseum & the Catacombs. We had a wonderful guide and what we saw was out of the ordinary. We saw St Peter's but did not see the museum or Sistine Chapel because it's so crowded. I think if we had a private tour then I would have loved seeing it.So I think ,out of those 3, I would choose #3.

Planning is 1/2 the fun !!!!:banana:

[DopeyFan1966]

Ok I just started looking at the shore excursions and its almost impossible to chose. In looking at ROME these three caught my eye....and ideas from someone who has been there or hear good or bad about any of the below:

1. Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & At. Peters Basilica
2. Best of Rome
3. Vatican City, Coliseum & Catacomes

I also notices most of the people on this board are doing the early dinner. I usally love the earlier seating but I'm afraid that with the excursions that we would never get back in time....

We did late seating this year and it was pretty rough on our daughter. She was falling asleep at the table. Early seating might be a problem with a couple of the tours, but not all of them. And you could do private tours and ask that they have you back in time for early seating.

We did a private tour in Rome this year. We went to the Patheon, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Coliseum, the Spainish steps and to Trevi Fountain. I don't remember how much it cost because we shared it with another family that booked the tour. We bought our tickets for the Vatican online so we didn't have to wait in line for tickets when we got there. We didn't get a tour of the Roman Forum, but we did get a chance to look at it from several areas around the Coliseum.

Someone mentioned earlier that there is some big festival going on in Rome when we are there. That is something to take into consideration. The tour buses are going to have a hard time getting around at that time and the private tours are in vans, giving them much more maneuverability.

We haven't decided what we are going to do once we have docked in Civitavecchia. I guess I should start, but I have so many other things to work on right now. It's going to sneak up on me before I know it, then I'll be like :scared1:, what are we going to do????? LOL

[scrapycruiser]

We did late seating this year and it was pretty rough on our daughter. She was falling asleep at the table. Early seating might be a problem with a couple of the tours, but not all of them. And you could do private tours and ask that they have you back in time for early seating.

We did a private tour in Rome this year. We went to the Patheon, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Coliseum, the Spainish steps and to Trevi Fountain. I don't remember how much it cost because we shared it with another family that booked the tour. We bought our tickets for the Vatican online so we didn't have to wait in line for tickets when we got there. We didn't get a tour of the Roman Forum, but we did get a chance to look at it from several areas around the Coliseum.

Someone mentioned earlier that there is some big festival going on in Rome when we are there. That is something to take into consideration. The tour buses are going to have a hard time getting around at that time and the private tours are in vans, giving them much more maneuverability.

We haven't decided what we are going to do once we have docked in Civitavecchia. I guess I should start, but I have so many other things to work on right now. It's going to sneak up on me before I know it, then I'll be like :scared1:, what are we going to do????? LOL

It seems like we will be there before the festival.

Fitness Festival Jun 9-11
Choral Festival Jun 23-25
Chester Roman Festival Jun 11-12

Maybe someone knows about other events ??:confused3

[kaceyisme]

It seems like we will be there before the festival.

Fitness Festival Jun 9-11
Choral Festival Jun 23-25
Chester Roman Festival Jun 11-12

Maybe someone knows about other events ??:confused3

I hope there are no other events! That would be great news! It will make life much easier for all of us.

[DopeyFan1966]

I have been chatting with a few of the private tour operators to get a sense of price and availability. I have learned that there is a huge festival near the Colosseum, Piazza Venezia, and Roman Forum on the day we are in Rome. This means that the area will be restricted for traffic. This particular tour operator said that in order to see the Vatican that you will have to do it early because the crowds will get heavy as it gets closer to the festival time in the evening. I am doing some additional research to learn more about the festival and if it is something that would fun.

Also, in case you were like me and not sure if you could afford a private tour or not. I have discovered for my family of 5 a private tour is less expensive than a tour through Disney. Plus, we get to see what we want to see. Something to think about and consider if you are traveling in a larger group.

Amy

Amy,

do you have any more information on what festival is going to be happening on 2 June? I can't find anything on the internet about a festival during the early part of June. Any help you can give would be appreciated from me and I'm sure several others.

Thanks,

Cindy

[DopeyFan1966]

Is anyone interested in doing a private brunch at the Palo during this trip. I think the room holds about 13 people (no kids). We could do it on one of our sea days (29 may, 3 June, or 7 June). Let me know and when we can start booking our reservations I will contact DCL and try to get it booked. The group that went earlier this year did it and had a great time, we missed out on it because there was not enough room. This will also give us a chance to get to know each other more.

Let me know in a PM if you are interested.

Also, if you have any updates for the Roll call please send them to me in a PM. This would include stateroom numbers, dining seating, whether you are celebrating anything, names and ages. I think PMs will work better, so I don't have to keep going through several posts to make sure I got everyone.

If I am missing anything you have already sent, please let me know and I will add it.

Someone asked about a spreadsheet for meets and whatnot. I don't have anything. I plan on us having an initial meet after the lifeboat drill in Barcelona. If anyone wants to do more, we would have to talk about it. I will do a spreadsheet in April for the FEs. I will cut of the list on 31 March. The spreadsheet will have on it:
who
stateroom
children/no children
celebrating ???

If there are as many on this cruise as my last cruise we might have to break it down into two groups. We had 36 parties participating this last time and broke them down into two groups of 18.

If I think of anymore information that might be useful I will post it later.

Cindy

[DopeyFan1966]

I just booked this cruise! There are going to be at least 9 of us, maybe 10, in 4 staterooms. For everyone except my daughter this is our first cruise. We are still in the research mode.

With such a large group, I doubt we will all be doing the same things every day.

My biggest challenge in this is planning for Jack, my friend in a wheelchair. This trip was his idea and I'm going to need to find private tours that can accommodate his power wheelchair in the ports. He is very disabled, cannot walk and is unable to transfer out of his chair.

I'm most wondering about Rome and Naples. He really wants to see Pompeii and what he can of Rome.

However Jack will not be able to go ashore in the tendered ports (Villefranche & La Spezia) so there's two ports I don't have to worry about.

I'm really looking forward to this cruise and perhaps finally meeting some DISers!

Could you please give me more information so I can add it to the roll call?
Names, ages, staterooms, early or late seating, is anyone celebrating anything, etc.

Thanks, Cindy

[kaceyisme]

Hi all! In case anyone is interested, we still have space on our tours that we have booked so far:

we have space for two people left on the Rome tour
we have space for two people left on the Naples tour
we have space for four people left on the Nice/Monaco tour

[kaceyisme]

Question for DopeyFan1966 -

Cindy - do you recall what time you disembarked in Barcelona? I am arranging a tour for the day we disembark and they are picking us up at the port. Thanks!

Karen

[DopeyFan1966]

Question for DopeyFan1966 -

Cindy - do you recall what time you disembarked in Barcelona? I am arranging a tour for the day we disembark and they are picking us up at the port. Thanks!

Karen

We didn't leave until around 9 pm, but you have to be on the ship for the life boat drill at 4pm. Then you can leave again. We got there around 12, didn't get on the boat until after 2 pm and then we just toured around until the life boat drill. Then we ate and walked around the boat some more. They have a really great party in the evening in the pool area.

Cindy

[kaceyisme]

We didn't leave until around 9 pm, but you have to be on the ship for the life boat drill at 4pm. Then you can leave again. We got there around 12, didn't get on the boat until after 2 pm and then we just toured around until the life boat drill. Then we ate and walked around the boat some more. They have a really great party in the evening in the pool area.

Cindy

Thanks Cindy! What time did you get off the ship at the end of the cruise?

[DopeyFan1966]

Thanks Cindy! What time did you get off the ship at the end of the cruise?

I don't recall what time we disembarked, but it was early. We got up, had some breakfast went back and checked the room one last time and left. We were definately off the ship before 930 though.

Cindy

[scrapycruiser]

Cindy

How do I add our photo to the FE list ?

Also, could you add to the Roll Call ( Scrapycruiser) that we're celebrating our 1st Platinum Cruise.

THANKS ! :flower3:

BTW, where is everyone ? Thought our group would be more active by now !
Guess it'll pick up after Christmas.

[kaceyisme]

BTW, where is everyone ? Thought our group would be more active by now !
Guess it'll pick up after Christmas.


I know!! I thought it would pick up after the summer, but it's still slow. Maybe the people who have posted so far are the only ones on this sailing :rotfl2:

[DopeyFan1966]

Cindy

How do I add our photo to the FE list ?

Also, could you add to the Roll Call ( Scrapycruiser) that we're celebrating our 1st Platinum Cruise.

THANKS ! :flower3:

BTW, where is everyone ? Thought our group would be more active by now !
Guess it'll pick up after Christmas.

Added your celebration. I can add pictures, just send them to me in an email to cindy_perrier@yahoo.com. If you already sent it to me, I will add it.

I was hoping more people would be on here also. We took this same cruise this year in May and we had over 280 pages total posts. We had to start a second thread because they cut you off at 250 pages. I'm hoping more will join soon.

Cindy

[kaceyisme]

Maybe it will be easier to get Palo reservations if there are less people. And maybe they will lower the price again!

[Halo]

Duplicated post. (sorry)

[Halo]

Please add us to the roll call - just booked it today.

Halo (Don) 46
DW (Gaynor) :scared1:
DD1 (Caitlin) 11 (just - at the time of sailing)
DD2 (Grace) 8 (9th birthday on the cruise :banana:)
DS (Jack) 5
Celebrating: the girl's birthdays
Staterooms: 2122 and 2124
early seating

From London.

[kaceyisme]

:cheer2: Hi Halo!! Welcome to the small group :cheer2:

[scrapycruiser]

Welcome, HALO !!!

:welcome:

So happy to see more folks joining !! :cool1:

BTW, we love London ! We were there last July prior to our Disney Baltic Cruise ! Saw Oliver...best production we've ever seen ! Hope to go back soon !

This cruise is going to be WONDERFUL !! I love the addition of Malta, Corsica and Tunisia. We were on the 2007 Disney Med Cruise, so we're looking to do some different things this time.

Cindy & Kacey...lets keep this thread alive !! :cheer2:

[scrapycruiser]

Added your celebration. I can add pictures, just send them to me in an email to cindy_perrier@yahoo.com. If you already sent it to me, I will add it.

I was hoping more people would be on here also. We took this same cruise this year in May and we had over 280 pages total posts. We had to start a second thread because they cut you off at 250 pages. I'm hoping more will join soon.

Cindy

Thanks, Cindy :flower3:

I will email you my FE picture. :thumbsup2

[Halo]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

We are very excited about this cruise - it is only our second DCL, the last was on the Wonder in 2000 when our eldest was only 6-mths old (deferred from 1999 because of her). We sailed RCCL's Independence of the Seas Transatlantic in April, and realised what a great family vacation cruises are, so we are now booked back on DCL.

We haven't seen "Oliver" yet, but might do so shortly. My favourite musical is "Les Miserables", but "Billy Elliott" is good too (but not suitable for kids IMHO, even if it does star phenomenally talented kids).

[kaceyisme]

Cindy & Kacey...lets keep this thread alive !! :cheer2:


:grouphug:

[jettybean]

Can you please add our family to the FE list?

Also, I am (jettybean) aka Jeanne. My DH is Billy.

Thanks!!

[DopeyFan1966]

Can you please add our family to the FE list?

Also, I am (jettybean) aka Jeanne. My DH is Billy.

Thanks!!

I fixed the mistake and added you to the FE list.

Cindy

[RaglanRoad]

Hello Everyone!
You can add us to the cruise, we just put our down payment down. It will be me (RaglanRoad) Trisha, my mom Gloria and my aunt Cindy. We cant wait to go and are extremely excited about this cruise. We will be on deck 6 veranda. :goodvibes thank you!

[DopeyFan1966]

:welcome:

I've created a website to help everyone out for the cruise I created a website with as much information as I can. The link for it is in my signature.

See you on the cruise.

Cindy

[DopeyFan1966]

I know some of you have already reserved private tours. Please PM them to me and I will add them to the website. Let me know if you have openings or if you are full.

Thanks

Cindy

[scottjm]

No thread had been started for this cruise, so I thought I would start one. Anyone else out there going on this cruise. I just booked it last week while on the cruise.

Here is a website I've started on this cruise. Someone on our last cruise did the same thing, hopefully I will be able to make this one half as good as his. I will continually update it as I can. I have not completed all the pages yet. Eventually as people start booking private excursions and have openings for others I will post that on the site also.

http://5-28-11-medcruisers.weebly.com/

Disboard Members on this Cruise:

.
.
.

14. Scottjm (North Carolina)
DW
DS (12)
DD (8)
Celebrating:
Stateroom:
early seating



After much thought (and looking at the wallet) we have decided to switch to Caribbean B2Bs instead of this one. I hope you all have a great time!

[scrapycruiser]

After much thought (and looking at the wallet) we have decided to switch to Caribbean B2Bs instead of this one. I hope you all have a great time!

I know you'll enjoy the B2B !!!:cool1:

[scottjm]

After much thought (and looking at the wallet) we have decided to switch to Caribbean B2Bs instead of this one. I hope you all have a great time!

Since some have asked, left me clarify: DISNEY Caribbean B2Bs. We have been other cruise lines. We don't plan to change from DCL!

[htmlkid]

Anyone know on this cruise which side of the ship will give the best views from your room?

[scrapycruiser]

Anyone know on this cruise which side of the ship will give the best views from your room?

From everything I have read on the boards, Port side , or left. Hope that's correct cause that's what we have.

[htmlkid]

Guess I'll have to change my room. Thanks for the help!!!

On the plus side .... Wooo Hooo Just booked the Fantasy for June 2012 7 days....

[htmlkid]

Ok we just moved our room to the port side room 6026.

Dopyfan can you update our room on your website.

Thanks....

[Halo]

From everything I have read on the boards, Port side , or left. Hope that's correct cause that's what we have.

:) We are on the Port side too, so very happy with this news.

[RaglanRoad]

We are on the port side also! :)

[Halo]

I have visions of the ship listing, as all the Disboarders now rush to the port side LOL. ;)

I just read a terrific review of the Med cruise from last April on CruiseCritic (see here (http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=67553)) by selenapan9 - the bit about "THE question" had me ROTFLMAO.

[DopeyFan1966]

I changed your stateroom number.

I don't know which side is better, this past year (2010) we were on the port side and it was nice. When we docked in Malta the port side was facing the docks, same in Tunis, and Corsica. I don't remember which side of the ship was facing the dock when we stopped in Rome and Naples.

We didn't do much "looking" from our verandah, we went topside to see everything.

We are on port side again this year, except no verandah this time unless we get an upgrade.

I can say that being on deck 8 was awesome. This time we are on deck 7, so we will see how things go.

[kaceyisme]

Deck 7 is my favorite deck to be on. We have almost always stayed on that deck, and the one time we didn't I didn't particularly enjoy my cabin. It's a very convenient deck!

[htmlkid]

Thanks for updating our room number on the Disboard, can u do the same on the FE List and the Roll Call lists.

Thanks....

[David & Jane]

Hi
We are David & Jane from Manchester,England. This will be our third Disney cruise,stateroom 7088.Can you add us to the rollcall

Unsure what Disney is doing with the prices on this cruise just before we booked on Friday prices went up by 40%, apart from cat 5b which is the one we booked. The website is showing cat 7 costing more than our 5b

[scrapycruiser]

Hi
We are David & Jane from Manchester,England. This will be our third Disney cruise,stateroom 7088.Can you add us to the rollcall

Unsure what Disney is doing with the prices on this cruise just before we booked on Friday prices went up by 40%, apart from cat 5b which is the one we booked. The website is showing cat 7 costing more than our 5b

:welcome: David & Jane !!

Looks like this party is getting started ! :cheer2:

I would love to hear what everyone is planning for the ports !:confused3

[DopeyFan1966]

Thanks for updating our room number on the Disboard, can u do the same on the FE List and the Roll Call lists.

Thanks....

Done, sometimes I make changes at work on Disboards and forget to make the changes when I get home on Weebly. Unfortunately I can't access Weebly on my work computer.

So excited, just a little over 7 months to go.

:banana::banana::banana::banana::yay::yay::woohoo: :woohoo:

[disneymom13176]

I have been away from the boards from the while and honestly have been away from planning too... But I am busy at it today! Just got finished booking our airline tickets! YEAH!!!! Took me a bit to get over the sticker shock, but once I did I was able to pull the trigger. I'm getting excited. Now I am trying to decide on a hotel in Barcelona for the day before the cruise and 2 days after the cruise. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Amy

[disneymom13176]

Sorry, no additional information at this time. I have been emailing again with tour operators and hope to know something in a day or so. I will post my findings as soon as I know.

Amy

Amy,

do you have any more information on what festival is going to be happening on 2 June? I can't find anything on the internet about a festival during the early part of June. Any help you can give would be appreciated from me and I'm sure several others.

Thanks,

Cindy

[disneymom13176]

Not to cause panic, but I contacted 4 private tour companies who all have told me they are fully booked for June 2. Still no details on the festival yet but it may be effecting availability. If you plan to do a private tour I suggest getting on it. I will post when I find a tour company with availability.

[scrapycruiser]

Our guide in Rome said the festival doesn't begin until mid-June. So it won't effect us.

Which private companies were full and for which ports ?

Thanks ! We're already booked, but I'm sure others would want to know.

We booked with RomeCabs, Stefano, for Rome & Naples..Amalfi Coast

and also with Revelation Tours for Villefranche

[disneymom13176]

Right now I have just been working on Rome. I don't have the list with me but I will certainly post when I get to my computer later.

I will reach out to the ones you mentioned tonight. I'm feeling just sick that I don have this done.

[scrapycruiser]

There are many good companies out there, so don't worry.

Have you seen this ....http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1998121

This is our second Disney Med Cruise, so I'll be happy to help.

We chose to use the Private companies we used before

http://www.stefanorometours.com/ used to be Rome Cabs

http://www.revelation-tours.com/excursions/

So try them. If they're full ask them for suggestion

Our 1st time to Florence, we did Florence on Your Own. This gave us Disney's transportation and the security that we wouldn't miss the ship. Once in Florence it was very easy to get around and see everything. Small city or at least everything we wanted to see was within walking distance. We did go on line and get our tkts ahead for The Accademia to see David.

We'll do Cinque Terre this time on our own

I think Malta and Corsica will be easy on your own

In Tunis you can get a taxi for 60 Euros/ 5 hours
All you have to do is go to the desk inside the cruise terminal and they'll arrange the taxi , you'll pay at the desk, so no money to pay the driver except the tip. They'll take you where you want to go.

Didn't mean to ramble, just trying to be of some help ! :flower3:

GINA

[disneymom13176]

Gina,

Thanks so much for the information. I have been busy emailing people from your list. I really appreciate it! I will try to calm down. :eek:

I was also looking at the Disney tours and they also offer a private tour option which seems very similar to the ones you find online and the price is very close to the same. I wonder if you get the same guarantee that you get with any other tour booked through them that if something goes wrong with the tour and you miss the boat that they transport you at their expense or hold the ship? That might be worth a few extra dollars. I would hate for something to go wrong and miss the ship. Have you heard any feedback from others that have used the Disney version of the private tour?

Again, thanks you really helped me a ton!

Amy

[htmlkid]

I have been away from the boards from the while and honestly have been away from planning too... But I am busy at it today! Just got finished booking our airline tickets! YEAH!!!! Took me a bit to get over the sticker shock, but once I did I was able to pull the trigger. I'm getting excited. Now I am trying to decide on a hotel in Barcelona for the day before the cruise and 2 days after the cruise. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Amy

We were thinking about staying at the The Renaissance Barcelona Airport hotel. They have free shuttles into town and its right at the airport.

Anyone else staying here or heard of it???

[MADCLFAN]

My wife and I just booked this cruise on board the other day, we received a 20% discount and a $275 on board credit for a category 5b. We can't wait it looks like a awesome trip, it will be the first time in Europe for us. See everyone soon. :cool1:

[David & Jane]

Can anyone think of name for our cruise ?

[scrapycruiser]

We were thinking about staying at the The Renaissance Barcelona Airport hotel. They have free shuttles into town and its right at the airport.

Anyone else staying here or heard of it???

We had booked LeMeridian through DCL, but changed to 1898 which is next door. They have a roof top pool and bar plus I heard the hotel used to be an old tabacco warehouse so it should be charming. Also, they have a nice resturant w/ bkf included. And it was cheaper than LeMeridian. We can still check in for the cruise at the LeM and use their transportation to the pier. We've been to Barcelona before and this location is perfect !

[scrapycruiser]

Can anyone think of name for our cruise ?

Glad you mentioned this !!!! Lets everyone put on our thinking caps and come up with a good one.

On our Baltic cruise sev people submitted names. Then everyone PM our group leader with their vote.

I'll be thinking !:rolleyes1

[kaceyisme]

We were thinking about staying at the The Renaissance Barcelona Airport hotel. They have free shuttles into town and its right at the airport.

Anyone else staying here or heard of it???

We're booked at the Renaissance for the night before the cruise. I haven't finalized the two nights after though. We want to be closer to the sites in the city for those two nights.

[David & Jane]

We're booked at the Renaissance for the night before the cruise. I haven't finalized the two nights after though. We want to be closer to the sites in the city for those two nights.

We booked the Euro Park Hotel which we selected from Trip Advisor's top 10 hotels, appears to be good value for money and not in a bad location.

[dsjames]

Welcome.

Have you done this cruise before? We just did it in May of this year and it was amazing. If you have any questions please let me know and I will try to answer them for you. I am not a Disney Cruise expert but I will try to give you any information that I might be able to.

Cindy

Hello - I am very new to the boards - but we are booked for this cruise!! Yeah! Not our first on Disney but 1st to the Med! I tend to be a very bad over-packer, I am determined NOT to do that again. Since you have done this cruise before at this same time of the year, what is the weather like. I tend to be cold natured but my DS and DH are the opposite. I have read on other post that it tends to be very windy and rainy, making it feel cooler. I just want to pack smart!

Thank you for any guidance! :worship:

[DopeyFan1966]

Hello - I am very new to the boards - but we are booked for this cruise!! Yeah! Not our first on Disney but 1st to the Med! I tend to be a very bad over-packer, I am determined NOT to do that again. Since you have done this cruise before at this same time of the year, what is the weather like. I tend to be cold natured but my DS and DH are the opposite. I have read on other post that it tends to be very windy and rainy, making it feel cooler. I just want to pack smart!

Thank you for any guidance! :worship:

Welcome to our thread!!!!:welcome:

I wore capris and short sleeve shirts the whole time. It rained only once and it got very chilly. We did not go topside very much after dark (and I have no idea why we didn't, that will have to change this time). I did get a little chilly after getting out of the pool, but other than that it was beautiful.

We were very lucky and had AWESOME weather. I plan on only packing capris, short sleeve shirts and sun dresses. Don't forget though if you want to enter any church in the ports you have to have your knees and shoulders covered. I just brought a light sweater to wear over my sundresses and I don't think I had any sleeveless shirts.

If you are cold natured I would just bring something to throw on just in case.

Hope this helps.

[Marymom]

Hi Everyone!

Booked our flight out tonight. I was able to fly out of my local airport for less than 900.00 so I am happy! I waited too long and lost out on a flight last week from Orlando so I jumped on this fare. :yay:

My brother did transfer his family's reservation and will be cruising with us. His reservation included airport transfers. Does anyone know if Disney will only pick up from the airport to port? He asked but got a confused answer. The woman told him there was pick up at all the Disney resorts. :confused: I don't think Barcelona sank in! We are arriving early to tour Barcelona. He is considering finding a hotel that will shuttle back to the airport to catch a transfer.

Next step is to find a hotel and apply for our passports! :goodvibes

Hope you all have a good week. Mary

[scrapycruiser]

Hi Everyone!

Booked our flight out tonight. I was able to fly out of my local airport for less than 900.00 so I am happy! I waited too long and lost out on a flight last week from Orlando so I jumped on this fare. :yay:

My brother did transfer his family's reservation and will be cruising with us. His reservation included airport transfers. Does anyone know if Disney will only pick up from the airport to port? He asked but got a confused answer. The woman told him there was pick up at all the Disney resorts. :confused: I don't think Barcelona sank in! We are arriving early to tour Barcelona. He is considering finding a hotel that will shuttle back to the airport to catch a transfer.

Next step is to find a hotel and apply for our passports! :goodvibes

Hope you all have a good week. Mary

DCL does have pick up service at their designated hotels. Le Meridian, at the top of the Ramblas ( exc location ) is one of "Disney's" hotels. My son is staying there. DH & I are staying next door at the Hotel 1898. After talking w/ DCL I found out that we can purchase Transfers (which we did) . We just have to wheel our luggage over that Sat am. We can even check-in at the LeMeridian. These "Disney" hotels will have a DCL hospitality desk set up the day before the cruise to check passengers in and even give you your KTTW card. No need for your brother to go back to the airport .

[DopeyFan1966]

Hi Everyone!

Booked our flight out tonight. I was able to fly out of my local airport for less than 900.00 so I am happy! I waited too long and lost out on a flight last week from Orlando so I jumped on this fare. :yay:

My brother did transfer his family's reservation and will be cruising with us. His reservation included airport transfers. Does anyone know if Disney will only pick up from the airport to port? He asked but got a confused answer. The woman told him there was pick up at all the Disney resorts. :confused: I don't think Barcelona sank in! We are arriving early to tour Barcelona. He is considering finding a hotel that will shuttle back to the airport to catch a transfer.

Next step is to find a hotel and apply for our passports! :goodvibes

Hope you all have a good week. Mary

Is your brother a Disboard member? Does he want to be added to the roll call?

[kaceyisme]

We booked the Euro Park Hotel which we selected from Trip Advisor's top 10 hotels, appears to be good value for money and not in a bad location.

Thanks! I'll look into that too!

[annichan]

Hi everybody,

DH and I have just returned from our 3-week trip to WDW and the Magic, which was also our first cruise ever. We loved it and didn't hesitate to rebook on board ... and so we are booked on this cruise!

We are Annika and Christian, 37 and 34 at the time of the cruise, celebrating our third wedding anniversary. We will have late seating, and we are booked in stateroom 7618 (unless we rush over to port side as seems to be the trend here recently :thumbsup2).

I am really looking forward to all the planning - don't have any idea at all what excursions to take so far, but it will all work out. The one thing I know is that we will try to get Palo dinner for the first sea day as that is our anniversary :yay:.

You asked about names for our cruise - that is always a difficult one! I think it would be a good idea to throw together some suggestions from everybody, so I will definitely give it some thought as soon as I am no longer jetlagged and travel-weary :)

[Marymom]

Thanks for the information about the transfers. I will tell my brother. He is not a disboard member. I will see if he wants to join our meet. He is a disneynut and has been on more cruises than me! :thumbsup2 I am happy he changed his reservation. Alaska would be fun but when he found out that the Med cruise was actually cheaper and longer, I didn't have to beg too much. ;)

Mary

[DopeyFan1966]

Hi everybody,

DH and I have just returned from our 3-week trip to WDW and the Magic, which was also our first cruise ever. We loved it and didn't hesitate to rebook on board ... and so we are booked on this cruise!

We are Annika and Christian, 37 and 34 at the time of the cruise, celebrating our third wedding anniversary. We will have late seating, and we are booked in stateroom 7618 (unless we rush over to port side as seems to be the trend here recently :thumbsup2).

I am really looking forward to all the planning - don't have any idea at all what excursions to take so far, but it will all work out. The one thing I know is that we will try to get Palo dinner for the first sea day as that is our anniversary :yay:.



You asked about names for our cruise - that is always a difficult one! I think it would be a good idea to throw together some suggestions from everybody, so I will definitely give it some thought as soon as I am no longer jetlagged and travel-weary :)



:welcome:

Check out our cruise website, I've put a lot of information there. If you have anything to add let me know.

[DopeyFan1966]

We booked the Euro Park Hotel which we selected from Trip Advisor's top 10 hotels, appears to be good value for money and not in a bad location.

We are staying at the Marriot by the airport. I know that it is not in the Barcelona area, but we have already seen Barcelona. And, for 125 Euro we get a room for the three of us, breakfast, and a shuttle to the port. We do have to pay an extr 58 Euro for our daughter (I think, not sure if they charge for children). But, it is still cheaper than the Disney transfer.

[annichan]

Today has been a very important milestone for DH and myself cruisewise: Both our bosses have today granted our requests for the necessary time off in May and June, so now we are absolutely, definitely going!!! :banana:
So let the planning commence ... but to be honest, I have already been doing little else last week. :rotfl2:

Do you all already have ideas what to do for shore excursions? We have worked out a first draft of a schedule, but that may all still change (probably more than once!) until cruisetime:


Malta: We will explore Valletta on our own and maybe even hop on a bus to Mdina, I have been to Malta before for a weeks' holiday so I'm looking forward to showing DH around :)

Tunis: probably will take the DCL excursion of Carthage and Sidi Bou Said

Naples: We are thinking of going to Capri on our own and just spending the day there. Once again, I have been there on longer holidays (as a little kid), and I remember finding it so beautiful I absolutely want to show it all to DH :lovestruc

Civitavecchia: very unsure about this one. We might do the "Rome on your own" DCL excursion as that means we will never miss the boat even if the bus breaks down, or we might go much cheaper and just take a train to Rome. Then again, we might actually just stay on board the Magic :eek:. Strange, I know, especially since we haven't been to Rome, but we are thinking about taking a weekend trip there someday which would not be too expensive. So the Magic is really a bigger and more exclusive attraction to us than Rome is.

La Spezia: Same thing holds true about Florence as I said before about Rome. I would love to do the DCL Cinque Terre boat tour, though- However, I have read here on the DIS that apparently that books up really quickly so we might not even get it. Not sure what to do if we don't - take a train to the Cinque Terre, or again just stay on board? :confused3

Ajaccio: This is another place I visited as a little kid and have the fondest memories of. Would love to do the DCL Les Calanches excursion, having heard that it is a very relaxing day even though it's so long, and that you drive past loads of really beautiful scenery.

Villefranche: Another difficult one. We are sort of leaning towards the DCL excursion going to Monte Carlo / Monaco and Eze, but still very much undecided.

How about you guys, does anybody have any tips for me or any other good ideas?

Have a great weekend everybody,

Annika

[annichan]

Oh and by the way, here is a picture of me since I saw that some of you have pictures posted on the website for this cruise:

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1030644.jpg

[Halo]

For Rome tours we have used this company (http://www.realrometours.com/Cruises.html), Real Rome Tours, before. You can read our review on them here (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d1036389-r19785820-Real_Rome_Tours-Rome_Lazio.html) on TA.

[scrapycruiser]

Oh and by the way, here is a picture of me since I saw that some of you have pictures posted on the website for this cruise:

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv49/flossie_album/P1030644.jpg

I enjoyed reading about your plans ! It's fun to see what everybody is doing.

My only suggestion is to consider taking a taxi in Tunis. I read a trip report from a Diser who went to the Med last summer. Apparently, Tunis has really got their act together at the port. When you walk off the ship and go through the pier, there is a taxi stand where you can arrange your tour. Just tell them where you want to go and they'll tell you the fare. You pay right there and then they take you to your taxi. This family that was giving the report said they only paid 60Euros + 10% tip.

I read another report that said if you go with DCL to Sidi Bou Said, they drop you off at the bottom of this steep hill. By the time you climb to the top you only have a few minutes until you have to head back. They didn't have time for a snack or time to shop !!

Our plans, subject to change :

Malta...Blue Grotto & Fishermens Village, DCL

Tunis... Sidi Bou Said, Medina, the Mosque, Taxi

Naples... Amalfi Coast, Stefano RomeTours

Civitavecchia.... Rome Countryside, Stefano Rome Tours

LaSpezia.......... Cinque Terre, on our own

Ajaccio........... Beach..relax! , on our own

Villefranche.... Naples, Cannes, St Paul de Vence, Antibes, Revelation Tours

[DopeyFan1966]

I enjoyed reading about your plans ! It's fun to see what everybody is doing.

My only suggestion is to consider taking a taxi in Tunis. I read a trip report from a Diser who went to the Med last summer. Apparently, Tunis has really got their act together at the port. When you walk off the ship and go through the pier, there is a taxi stand where you can arrange your tour. Just tell them where you want to go and they'll tell you the fare. You pay right there and then they take you to your taxi. This family that was giving the report said they only paid 60Euros + 10% tip.

I read another report that said if you go with DCL to Sidi Bou Said, they drop you off at the bottom of this steep hill. By the time you climb to the top you only have a few minutes until you have to head back. They didn't have time for a snack or time to shop !!

Our plans, subject to change :

Malta...Blue Grotto & Fishermens Village, DCL

Tunis... Sidi Bou Said, Medina, the Mosque, Taxi

Naples... Amalfi Coast, Stefano RomeTours

Civitavecchia.... Rome Countryside, Stefano Rome Tours

LaSpezia.......... Cinque Terre, on our own

Ajaccio........... Beach..relax! , on our own

Villefranche.... Naples, Cannes, St Paul de Vence, Antibes, Revelation Tours

We are doing the Blue Grotto, but I think we might do it on our own (haven't decided yet)

Tunis ... we are going to take a taxi to the American Cemetary and to Carthage

Naples.... on our own to Herculanium

Rome.... haven't decided yet

LaSpezia....Cinque Terre on our own

Ajaccio.... walking down to the beach on our own

Villefranche....I think we are staying on the boat.

We did this cruise earlier this year, saw a lot, now we want to enjoy the ship. All could change if my mother-in-law decides to join us.

[Vicky29]

Hi All,

My name is Vicky - we just booked for this cruise and can't wait:-) We did it three times last year, once in May and then twice in August - having previously never cruised before and can't wait for the ship to come back to Europe.

I'll be travelling with my daughter - Elizabeth (age 3) and my mum - Janet, and we'll definately be making the most of the ship rather than doing lots of sightseeing, trying to get Elizabeth away from the characters is always a bit of a mission.

Is there a fish extender list? If there is we'd love to be added to it.

Thanks
Vicky

[Halo]

Hi Vicky,

We'll be following in your footsteps from last year - we have just booked another week in August in addition to this one, as they have a special price at the moment. (27th Aug) And we want to make the most of the ship too :)

[DopeyFan1966]

Hi All,

My name is Vicky - we just booked for this cruise and can't wait:-) We did it three times last year, once in May and then twice in August - having previously never cruised before and can't wait for the ship to come back to Europe.

I'll be travelling with my daughter - Elizabeth (age 3) and my mum - Janet, and we'll definately be making the most of the ship rather than doing lots of sightseeing, trying to get Elizabeth away from the characters is always a bit of a mission.

Is there a fish extender list? If there is we'd love to be added to it.

Thanks
Vicky

There is a list. I will add you. You can view the roll call and the FE list by clicking on the link in my signature.

[DopeyFan1966]

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving weekend!!!!!!

[annichan]

Hi everybody,

I haven't written in a long time and just wanted to post something again. This thread does seem very quiet, but then again like I said I wasn't helping it either ;).

How is everybody, I hope everybody's Christmas preparations are going along well? We have lots of snow where I live, so it's easy to get into the Christmas spirit.

We still haven't finally decided on which excursions to take, but then again we still have until the end of February to decide. I fully understand those of you who say they will mostly stay on the ship, making the most of it - we might yet end up doing just the same and scrapping 80% of our excursions, joining you at the pool instead :thumbsup2.

After all, from where we live it is so easy and hassle-free to spend a weekend in say, Rome or Florence, but who knows when we will manage to get back on a DCL cruise ...?:confused3

Have a great day everybody,

Annika

[htmlkid]

So we are looking for input on the following excursions we are considering:

Malta: Highlights of Malta
Tunis: Bardo Museum, Medina, Carthage & Sidi Bou Said
Naples: Mt. Vesuvius Hike and Pompeii or Timeless Pompeii & Flavor of Sorrento
Rome: Classical Rome

Thats it so far, we are also looking for suggestions on the other stops as well as any comments on these.

Other then that, I see the prices of the cruise has jumped a little, I would assume that would be do to good bookings????

Surprised there are not alot more people joining the fish extenders. Speaking of FE, I was looking at some of them on Ebay... anyone have suggestions for anywhere else to get one????

Thanks in advance for any help.... Cant wait for the cruise.... Less then 6 months.... Whoo Hoo!!!!!!! :dance3:

[DopeyFan1966]

So we are looking for input on the following excursions we are considering:

Malta: Highlights of Malta
Tunis: Bardo Museum, Medina, Carthage & Sidi Bou Said
Naples: Mt. Vesuvius Hike and Pompeii or Timeless Pompeii & Flavor of Sorrento
Rome: Classical Rome

Thats it so far, we are also looking for suggestions on the other stops as well as any comments on these.

Other then that, I see the prices of the cruise has jumped a little, I would assume that would be do to good bookings????

Surprised there are not alot more people joining the fish extenders. Speaking of FE, I was looking at some of them on Ebay... anyone have suggestions for anywhere else to get one????

Thanks in advance for any help.... Cant wait for the cruise.... Less then 6 months.... Whoo Hoo!!!!!!! :dance3:


We did the Bardo Museum, Medina, Carthage & Sidi Bou Said tour this year. It wasn't bad. We really liked the Bardo museum and Carthage. Wish we had more time at Carthage. Medina is okay, watch out for those rug salesmen...when you get to Sidi Bou Said they park near the bottom of the hill and by the time you get to the top to see anything you have to start heading down again so you don't miss the bus.

We did a private tour in Rome, which I think is a much better deal than the Disney excursion.

We did the Jeep excursion in Malta, it was okay, but not if you have a week bladder. I think we will try and do the Blue Grottos this time (but on our own). We also did private tours in Naples, Pompeii is awesome, wish we had more time there (you could spend the whole day in Pompeii and not see it all). In LeSpezia we did the Lerici excursion (very disappointed), we are going to Cinque Terre this time on our own. In Corsica we just walked down to the beach and that is what we are going to do this time. And, last but not least we did a private tour in Villefranche this year, but for this cruise I think we are staying on the boat. We might take the tender in to shop at the port, but we aren't going anywhere. Eze is amazing, but now the area is one of those "been there, done that" kind of thing.


I don't know where else to buy FEs, I bought my from Ebay.

Hope this helps.

Cindy

[kcashner]

Hi! I don't think I've checked in here yet, so guess it's time to stop by and introduce myself. I'm Kathryn, and I'm a DCL addict. We started with the maiden voyage of the Magic, and never stopped.

My 20 year old DD and I will be doing the TA and B2B with this sailing. I LOVE the longer sailings, and have done 3 previous DCL cruises of 14 nights or more as well as many 7 nighters. I've sailed in or out of Barcelona 3 times also (both TAs in 2010 and the Dover to BCN repo), and flew once in and twice out of BCN, so if I can help with any questions, fire away.

I was able to pull up the roll call, but not post to it...

We really haven't decided on any excursions yet. DD's last final is tomorrow and I've been trying to not bother her with any decisions till the semester is over. I did the HOHO bus in Barcelona this year; it was about 22 Euros and was a great way to see the city since I had only one day. A 2 day pass was 29 Euros, kid passes less.

So...nice to meet you!

[kaceyisme]

Hi Kathryn! Your name is familiar, I'm wondering if we ever cruised together before? Welcome to the group!

[Halo]

There was an interesting documentary on Pompei on BBC TV in the UK this week. It is adult in theme so be warned. You should be able to find it on-line if you Google ""Pompei: Life and Death in a Roman Town" +torrent". The female presenter is a suitably eccentric Classics Professor from Cambridge University. Very informative, and good viewing.

[kelvinwyng]

We (Iris & Kelvin) will be on this cruise, our first cruise, and we will be in the 2nd seating. We are so excited!

[annichan]

Hi! I don't think I've checked in here yet, so guess it's time to stop by and introduce myself. I'm Kathryn, and I'm a DCL addict. We started with the maiden voyage of the Magic, and never stopped.

My 20 year old DD and I will be doing the TA and B2B with this sailing. I LOVE the longer sailings, and have done 3 previous DCL cruises of 14 nights or more as well as many 7 nighters. I've sailed in or out of Barcelona 3 times also (both TAs in 2010 and the Dover to BCN repo), and flew once in and twice out of BCN, so if I can help with any questions, fire away.

I was able to pull up the roll call, but not post to it...

We really haven't decided on any excursions yet. DD's last final is tomorrow and I've been trying to not bother her with any decisions till the semester is over. I did the HOHO bus in Barcelona this year; it was about 22 Euros and was a great way to see the city since I had only one day. A 2 day pass was 29 Euros, kid passes less.

So...nice to meet you!

Hi Kathryn,

nice to meet you too! How great that you have done cruises of 14 nights and even more, I really hope to be able to try that sometime. Our first and only cruise so far was 7 days (a Western Caribbean on the Magic this October), and I am totally addicted and can't wait to try something longer. I am sure I will come up with lots of Barcelona-specific questions (embarkation and such) as soon as the cruise draws nearer, so it is great to hear that you won't mind if I ask them all :)

Best regards from snow-covered Germany
Annika

[annichan]

We (Iris & Kelvin) will be on this cruise, our first cruise, and we are so excited!

Welcome Iris & Kelvin, it is nice to see more and more people booking this cruise and coming to this thread! I hope you will enjoy and love your first cruise as much as we did our first, this October. I'm sure you will!
So you come all the way from Hongkong to the Mediterranean? You've got a long flight ahead of you then to get to Barcelona, I guess. How many hours' flight is it?

Best regards
Annika

[kelvinwyng]

Welcome Iris & Kelvin, it is nice to see more and more people booking this cruise and coming to this thread! I hope you will enjoy and love your first cruise as much as we did our first, this October. I'm sure you will!
So you come all the way from Hongkong to the Mediterranean? You've got a long flight ahead of you then to get to Barcelona, I guess. How many hours' flight is it?

Best regards
Annika

Hi! Annika,

It is a long flight. It takes 12-13 hours. We'll fly to Milan and stay 2 days then fly to Barcelona on 27 May.:yay::yay:

[DaisyKate]

My fiance and I just switched to this cruise from the Caribbean one for our honeymoon. It will be our first cruise and also our first time out of the US. We're getting really excited!

[annichan]

Welcome! What a wonderful thing to do on your honeymoon - a Disney cruise as well as see Europe for the first time! I'm sure you will love it! Are you getting married on the ship too?

[DopeyFan1966]

Welcome to all the newcomers. I've been slacking on the website. I promise that right after the new year I will get back on track and update the website with everyone's information.

Let me know names, stateroom number, if you are celebrating anything, if you are late/early seating, etc and I will get it added to the role call. I will also add anyone to the FE if you are interested. It is best if you send me a PM with your information otherwise I might miss it. You can also send me a picture to add to the roll call (cindy_perrier@yahoo.com).

I really am looking forward to doing this cruise again. We go to WDW every year and this year we did the cruise and now I am hooked. There will be many more Disney Cruises in our future. I had no idea how much fun cruise could be, and to add Disney to it was incredible.

See you all in May.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.

Cindy

[DaisyKate]

Welcome! What a wonderful thing to do on your honeymoon - a Disney cruise as well as see Europe for the first time! I'm sure you will love it! Are you getting married on the ship too?

Thanks! I think it will be a lot of fun! No, we're getting married at home and then flying out a few days later.

[kcashner]

I am sure I will come up with lots of Barcelona-specific questions (embarkation and such) as soon as the cruise draws nearer, so it is great to hear that you won't mind if I ask them all :)


DCL has done it's best to make the terminal in Barcelona as close as possible to the system at Port Canaveral (that statement helps only if you have cruised out of Port Canaveral...)

You will arrive at the cruise terminal either by taxi or by bus. In either event, you will walk into a large "hall" area with areas to complete any necessary documents before you get into the lines to check in. There will be separate lines for Castaway Club members (silver and gold), lines for platinum Castaway/Concierge, and lines for first time cruisers. In one of our cases there was a bit of a line inside the terminal so there were CMs outside making sure that everyone had their documentation ready before we even entered the terminal.

If you arrived by DCL arranged bus, you will not have your luggage (you'll see it in your cabin). If you arrived by private transportation you will find people to take your luggage as soon as you are out of your vehicle.

After you check in, you'll stand around waiting until they start boarding; again, boarding is by group number. You get your group number when you check in. There is really nothing to see or do at the terminal. In September, I arrived at the Barcelona airport about 9. DCL didn't want us at the terminal that early, so they loaded us on buses to the terminal but then took us on a guided tour of the city until the terminal was ready for us!

[annichan]

DCL has done it's best to make the terminal in Barcelona as close as possible to the system at Port Canaveral (that statement helps only if you have cruised out of Port Canaveral...)

You will arrive at the cruise terminal either by taxi or by bus. In either event, you will walk into a large "hall" area with areas to complete any necessary documents before you get into the lines to check in. There will be separate lines for Castaway Club members (silver and gold), lines for platinum Castaway/Concierge, and lines for first time cruisers. In one of our cases there was a bit of a line inside the terminal so there were CMs outside making sure that everyone had their documentation ready before we even entered the terminal.

If you arrived by DCL arranged bus, you will not have your luggage (you'll see it in your cabin). If you arrived by private transportation you will find people to take your luggage as soon as you are out of your vehicle.

After you check in, you'll stand around waiting until they start boarding; again, boarding is by group number. You get your group number when you check in. There is really nothing to see or do at the terminal. In September, I arrived at the Barcelona airport about 9. DCL didn't want us at the terminal that early, so they loaded us on buses to the terminal but then took us on a guided tour of the city until the terminal was ready for us!

Thank you, that is really very useful information! What do you reckon, what would be the earliest sensible time to arrive at the terminal? This October in Port Canaveral, we arrived at 9.30 and had to stand around for a while since that was too early, but we got boarding no. 2 for it and would like to try getting something similarly low in Barcelona.

[annichan]

Welcome to all the newcomers. I've been slacking on the website. I promise that right after the new year I will get back on track and update the website with everyone's information.

Let me know names, stateroom number, if you are celebrating anything, if you are late/early seating, etc and I will get it added to the role call. I will also add anyone to the FE if you are interested. It is best if you send me a PM with your information otherwise I might miss it. You can also send me a picture to add to the roll call (cindy_perrier@yahoo.com).

I really am looking forward to doing this cruise again. We go to WDW every year and this year we did the cruise and now I am hooked. There will be many more Disney Cruises in our future. I had no idea how much fun cruise could be, and to add Disney to it was incredible.

See you all in May.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.

Cindy

Thank you for taking care of the website and this thread, Cindy, I think that's great! Have a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to meeting you in May.

And to all other fellow cruisers as well:

Have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :flower3:

[kcashner]

Thank you, that is really very useful information! What do you reckon, what would be the earliest sensible time to arrive at the terminal? This October in Port Canaveral, we arrived at 9.30 and had to stand around for a while since that was too early, but we got boarding no. 2 for it and would like to try getting something similarly low in Barcelona.

When I did the TA last year, I arrived in Barcelona a day early and took the hotel shuttle back to the airport about 9 am to catch the DCL bus. OK...they loaded us on the bus, but they weren't letting people into the terminal area yet. They drove us around the city for about an hour, then took us to the terminal about 10:45 or 11. That was good timing.

I can tell you the disembarkation was slower in Barcelona than in Port Canaveral. There were LONG lines of people waiting for cabs, which didn't seem to be coming quickly enough. That was surprising since it was a Saturday so the cabs were charging the weekend surcharge. We didn't get into a cab till about 10:30 after getting off the ship about 9. If you were on Delta, there was luggage check in at the port (not the automatic thing like in Port Canaveral--you had to claim your luggage and take it to the Delta people). The line for Delta was actually longer than the regular Customs line. If you were hopping on a DCL bus, it was relatively easy once you were out of the terminal but they would hit little snags--like telling us to go one place, then having us take our luggage to the other side of the bus.

I've been in Barcelona 3 times with DCL. It's really pretty good, but not Port Canaveral good!

Sorry so long....I don't know what time they will let you into the terminal, but I can assure you that it won't be before 10--it takes them at least that long to clear the disembarkation passengers.

[micknstang]

Scott and Jason
Desk 5 secret porthole room
Late Seating
Celebrating Scott's 40th and Jason's 45th
Pre cruise stay in Barcelona
After Cruise heading to DLP for 3 Nights
Would be interested in sharing tours

[livelovelaugh06]

Hello. We are getting very excited about this cruise. It will be our second DC and our first trip to Europe. We thought it would be a great way to get a taste of Europe before taking extended vacations there in 2012. We would love to be added to the roll call and the FE list, although I am still trying to figure out how the FE works!

Rachelle (momma age 39)
Lee, aka "Grandma Peabody" (grandma age 65)
Jessica (daughter age 21)
Joseph, aka "cub" (son age 6)

Our cabin is on the 6th deck, with late dinner seating.

[micknstang]

ya we have been on 7 Disney cruises and never heard of this FE thing.

[livelovelaugh06]

ya we have been on 7 Disney cruises and never heard of this FE thing.

I googled it and found out that you make or buy a FE (fish extender) holder, which is a hanging pocket thingy that hangs from the metal fish on the side of your stateroom door. Then you make or brings little gifts for all the people who signed up for the FE exchange. I am assuming that someone will send us the list of people and stateroom numbers. Then you put your gifts in the FE of others and receive gifts in yours. When I tried to find what kinds of gifts people gave, it ranged from candy to CDs made about where the giver lives, keychains, magnets, ect.. I wish I knew more about it. We noticed the FE's on the last cruise we took, but had no idea about what they were. Hope this helps.

[micknstang]

I googled it and found out that you make or buy a FE (fish extender) holder, which is a hanging pocket thingy that hangs from the metal fish on the side of your stateroom door. Then you make or brings little gifts for all the people who signed up for the FE exchange. I am assuming that someone will send us the list of people and stateroom numbers. Then you put your gifts in the FE of others and receive gifts in yours. When I tried to find what kinds of gifts people gave, it ranged from candy to CDs made about where the giver lives, keychains, magnets, ect.. I wish I knew more about it. We noticed the FE's on the last cruise we took, but had no idea about what they were. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info. We will decide if we want to participate.

[DopeyFan1966]

Hello. We are getting very excited about this cruise. It will be our second DC and our first trip to Europe. We thought it would be a great way to get a taste of Europe before taking extended vacations there in 2012. We would love to be added to the roll call and the FE list, although I am still trying to figure out how the FE works!

Rachelle (momma age 39)
Lee, aka "Grandma Peabody" (grandma age 65)
Jessica (daughter age 21)
Joseph, aka "cub" (son age 6)

Our cabin is on the 6th deck, with late dinner seating.

ya we have been on 7 Disney cruises and never heard of this FE thing.

This past May was our first cruise ever. We participated in the FE, along with 35 others :scared1:, but the guy in charge broke that down into 2 groups of 18 :goodvibes: which wasn't so bad.

I'm compiling the list for the FEs. The only rule we are applying that is not always applied, the rule is one gift per party/stateroom. From my understanding others on other cruises would sometimes give separate gifts for children and adults, or if a party had 3 staterooms they would give 3 gifts. We aren't doing that due to the space issue in everyone's luggage.

Hope this wasn't confusing. It was really fun coming back to our room and finding little items in our FE and even more fun trying to get them in the FE without being caught.

Cindy

[Cousin Orville]

Happy New Year everyone.

I haven't posted here in a while. Been focused on our Christmas WDW trip. Just as an update, DW Kate and I will be taking our two sons (1 yr Liam and 6 yr Gavin). We're somewhere on Deck 8 (think our cabin is on the 1st pg). We just got our plane tickets from Houston. We have to fly through Montreal?! to get to BCN. Anyone ever transfer in Montreal?

Looking forward to May!

[kcashner]

Today was the deadline to send my final payment to my TA for the trans-atlantic portion of this vacation (really just a phone call authorizing her to bill my card). It's getting closer!

Fish Extenders--as above, crafty pocket things that hang from the FISH shaped letter holder outside each cabin. Generally one person on a cruise volunteers to coordinate the FE activities for anyone who wants to participate. You sign up with her, typically indicating the ages in your cabin. Each cabin then brings a small gift for each person in the exchange--something Disney themed, pirate themed, whatever. Nothing big, just fun. We've participated in exchanges with as few as 12 cabins and as many as 50 (WAY too big). My favorite is about 20-25 cabins. That way you are getting many surprises, but it doesn't take forever to deliver your FE gifts.

Each group sets its' own rules--typically it is one "delivery" during the cruise, but I've seen more. Some set a price max, most leave that to the individual. Items we've gotten have included some amazing craft projects, Christmas tree ornaments (hand made, DCL themed), CDs of cruise music, glow in the dark bracelets, glow sticks, all sorts of pirate stuff, candy, note pads and pens/pencils, door magnets, etc.

It's fun, but honestly I need to see what our luggage restrictions are on this cruise. With a 25 day trip (yes, I'll do laundry!), and airline luggage limits, I might pass on it.

[livelovelaugh06]

Regarding the FEs...I already told my family that whatever we do, they have to be flat and light! Thanks for the info

[kelvinwyng]

I am planning to book a dinner at Palo but I'm not certain which day will be better. I don't want to miss those special dinner night, such as formal dinner, priate night, etc. Any suggestion?
Also, is there any "show" or "perofrmance" during the dinner at different resturants?

[kelvinwyng]

Hi! Cindy,

I can not PM you our information. So, I re-post the information again for your updating.

We (Iris & Kelvin) will be on this cruise, our first cruise, and we will be in the 2nd seating. We are so excited!

Actually, I have post my information in post #177 already. Thank you!

[kelvinwyng]

We are doing the Blue Grotto, but I think we might do it on our own (haven't decided yet)

Tunis ... we are going to take a taxi to the American Cemetary and to Carthage

Naples.... on our own to Herculanium

Rome.... haven't decided yet

LaSpezia....Cinque Terre on our own

Ajaccio.... walking down to the beach on our own

Villefranche....I think we are staying on the boat.

We did this cruise earlier this year, saw a lot, now we want to enjoy the ship. All could change if my mother-in-law decides to join us.

Hi! Cindy,

If I join the DCL port adventure "Blue Grotto Boat Trip & Fishing Village"(it takes 4-4.5 hrs), do you think I could still have time to visit the city centre by ourself?:yay:

[disneymom13176]

Finally got back to planning. First starting with catching up with all of your plans. I really enjoyed reading everyone's posts. Looks like we have lots of new people joining the cruise. Very exciting!!!

I got our hotel booked on the front end finally. We are at the Hotel Arts. Not a Disney hotel but they were very helpful in making pickup arrangements from the airport to their property and then from their property to the ship the following day.

Got our hotel booked for the 2 days after we return to Barcelona. Great rates and they had family rooms with bunk beds. Petit Palace Museum Hotel. No pool and no restaurant on property but very nice and very close to lots to do and see, so I think it will be a good choice for us for the return portion of this adventure.

Finally Shore Excursions. I have made reservations for the 3 Italy stops with 2 different private tour companies. RomeCabs for Civitavecchia and Naples. And then Rome Connection for La Spezia. In La Spezia we decided to skip Lucca and go to Pisa. I really could not let go of seeing the tower.

I am now studying the other stops. Probably will pick from Disney's selections but not 100% at this point. I am hoping that one or two of the ports will offer some things and an excursion will not be mandatory. I think we have so much to do already that I am afraid I will need a vacation from my vacation when I get home.

I think that covers all that I have done since my last post. It was really nice catching up everyone's trip plans. I am really looking forward to this cruise!

Amy

[lawelch]

:welcome:

Check out our cruise website, I've put a lot of information there. If you have anything to add let me know.
Cindy,
On your website you have the ashore time listed as 4:00 am and Disney is showing 6:45 am. Do you know what time we will be allowed to leave the ship - from your Med cruise last year? We're usually not in a hurry to leave the ship, but we are planning a post cruise trip to Paris and were wondering how early we can make a flight.

[scrapycruiser]

Finally got back to planning. First starting with catching up with all of your plans. I really enjoyed reading everyone's posts. Looks like we have lots of new people joining the cruise. Very exciting!!!

I got our hotel booked on the front end finally. We are at the Hotel Arts. Not a Disney hotel but they were very helpful in making pickup arrangements from the airport to their property and then from their property to the ship the following day.

Got our hotel booked for the 2 days after we return to Barcelona. Great rates and they had family rooms with bunk beds. Petit Palace Museum Hotel. No pool and no restaurant on property but very nice and very close to lots to do and see, so I think it will be a good choice for us for the return portion of this adventure.

Finally Shore Excursions. I have made reservations for the 3 Italy stops with 2 different private tour companies. RomeCabs for Civitavecchia and Naples. And then Rome Connection for La Spezia. In La Spezia we decided to skip Lucca and go to Pisa. I really could not let go of seeing the tower.

I am now studying the other stops. Probably will pick from Disney's selections but not 100% at this point. I am hoping that one or two of the ports will offer some things and an excursion will not be mandatory. I think we have so much to do already that I am afraid I will need a vacation from my vacation when I get home.

I think that covers all that I have done since my last post. It was really nice catching up everyone's trip plans. I am really looking forward to this cruise!

Amy

We are also going with RomeCabs in Rome and Naples.
You will be very pleased with RomeCabs. :cheer2: We had so much fun with Stefano when we were on the Disney cruise in 2007 and in Rome with him ! Very professional, wonderful with my 12 yo Grandson...took him to the Ferrari Store as a surprise ! Even bought him a kid friendly book at the Colisseum.
He had just gotten married, and we brought him a small wedding gift from our home near Colonial Williamsburg. So this time, we will have our son and his wife and 2 Grandboys.
In Naples, we'll have him take us to Amalfi, Positano and Ravello. We loved Sorrento and saw Pompeii last time. But the area we're going to is not so touristy. The buses can't get to, I believe, Positano which is suppose to be so beautiful.

I hope we can get a group together to do the Blue Grotto & Fishing Village. I hear it is a good tour, so the more the merrier !:grouphug:

If you're not planning to go to Florence, I suggest doing Cinque Terre on your own. Very easy. Just get a copy of Rick Steve's Cinque Terre book.
Cinque Terre will give you a definite flavor of Italy !:thumbsup2

I have lots of thoughts on Villefranche area, but will save that for another post.:rolleyes1

[DopeyFan1966]

Hi! Cindy,

If I join the DCL port adventure "Blue Grotto Boat Trip & Fishing Village"(it takes 4-4.5 hrs), do you think I could still have time to visit the city centre by ourself?:yay:

Yes, if I recall correctly, they did a morning tour and an afternoon tour. We did the Jeep Safari trip last year and had time to walk around Valletta for a little while to sightsee and shop.

If you do the Blue Grotto trip, make sure you do the morning one, from what I understand it is the best time to do the trip.

Cindy

[Nanarella]

Hi Everybody,
We are so excited to be joining you on this Magical Cruise of the Mediterranean!
We are:
Nancy
John (DH)
Greg(DS)
We are celebrating Greg's College Graduation (and our tuition emanicipation!)
Also joining us:
Vicki (DD)
Dan (DS-I-L) Castaway Club Members and experienced cruisers
We are in staterooms 5622 and 5624. Late dinner seating.
We would like to be added to the roll call and to the FE list!
Thanks to everybody for all your posts. The info here is priceless.

[VickidiBobbidiBoo]

Hi Everyone!!

We are so excited to be cruising with all of you!

We are:
Vicki (32)
Dan (32 - DH - DisneyDan24 on DISboards)
we are traveling with Nanarella and crew as mentioned above to celebrate my brother's college graduation!

Dan & I cruised DCL in March 2008 with some of his family and did a 4 night to Bahamas and Castaway, and we LOVED IT!

Please add us to the FE list also! The creativity of DisBoarders is amazing.

As for a group name - maybe something to do with our cruise being the first Mediterranean cruise in 2011? Or, maybe something with 101 Dalmatians, since 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the release?

"Spot" Us in the Mediterranean - Disney Magic 2011?
"Spotted" in the Med....?
Other ideas?

We are staying at Hotel Curious in Barcelona on May 27, and after the cruise, we are going to Rome till June 11. We are still reviewing excursion ideas -- but one definite is a trip up to the Banfi Winery when we are in Civitavecchia.

Happy Planning!
Vicki:surfweb:

[scrapycruiser]

Hi Everyone!!

We are so excited to be cruising with all of you!

We are:
Vicki (32)
Dan (32 - DH - DisneyDan24 on DISboards)
we are traveling with Nanarella and crew as mentioned above to celebrate my brother's college graduation!

Dan & I cruised DCL in March 2008 with some of his family and did a 4 night to Bahamas and Castaway, and we LOVED IT!

Please add us to the FE list also! The creativity of DisBoarders is amazing.

As for a group name - maybe something to do with our cruise being the first Mediterranean cruise in 2011? Or, maybe something with 101 Dalmatians, since 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the release?

"Spot" Us in the Mediterranean - Disney Magic 2011?
"Spotted" in the Med....?
Other ideas?

We are staying at Hotel Curious in Barcelona on May 27, and after the cruise, we are going to Rome till June 11. We are still reviewing excursion ideas -- but one definite is a trip up to the Banfi Winery when we are in Civitavecchia.

Happy Planning!
Vicki:surfweb:

Great ideas for our name !!
Would like to hear about the Banif Winery. We will have a private guide...RomeCabs, and our son & wife love wine. They might be interested.

[Cousin Orville]

Riots in Tunis. President overthrown. I checkecked the State Dept and they are recommending tourists to stay away. Warning in affect til April. Who wants to bet they pull Tunis?

[scrapycruiser]

Riots in Tunis. President overthrown. I checkecked the State Dept and they are recommending tourists to stay away. Warning in affect til April. Who wants to bet they pull Tunis?

Hi Kevin
If they do I hope we go to Sicily. We were there in 2007 on the DCL Med cruise and took a DCL tour to the coastal town of Cephalu and loved it ! Would be very happy to go back !

Gina/ Mom:flower3:

[annichan]

Hi everybody, I haven't posted for a few weeks but now I really have the feeling that our cruise is getting incredibly close! It is great to see all the new names on our thread, looks like we are becoming more and more people here! :banana:

Scott and Jason
Desk 5 secret porthole room
Late Seating
Celebrating Scott's 40th and Jason's 45th
Pre cruise stay in Barcelona
After Cruise heading to DLP for 3 Nights
Would be interested in sharing tours

Welcome Scott and Jason! :welcome:
Have you ever been to DLP before? If not, I am sure you will like it, there are some things unique (I think) to DLP that I love, like the Jules Verne-esque version of Space Mountain, and the Dragon under the Castle - great!

Hello. We are getting very excited about this cruise. It will be our second DC and our first trip to Europe. We thought it would be a great way to get a taste of Europe before taking extended vacations there in 2012. We would love to be added to the roll call and the FE list, although I am still trying to figure out how the FE works!

Rachelle (momma age 39)
Lee, aka "Grandma Peabody" (grandma age 65)
Jessica (daughter age 21)
Joseph, aka "cub" (son age 6)

Our cabin is on the 6th deck, with late dinner seating.

Welcome Rachelle, Lee, Jessica and Joseph! :welcome:
At first it looked like everybody on our thread except for us had picked early seating, so it's nice to see some more "late diners".



I'm compiling the list for the FEs. The only rule we are applying that is not always applied, the rule is one gift per party/stateroom. From my understanding others on other cruises would sometimes give separate gifts for children and adults, or if a party had 3 staterooms they would give 3 gifts. We aren't doing that due to the space issue in everyone's luggage.


Cindy

Hey Cindy, thanks for organizing the FE - I am still not sure if I want to participate, I'm a bit scared with the amount of space this might take up in our bags :eek:. One question, since I've never participated in an FE before: Do we have any kind of price range for these gifts?

Today was the deadline to send my final payment to my TA for the trans-atlantic portion of this vacation (really just a phone call authorizing her to bill my card). It's getting closer!



I hadn't realized that you would be doing two cruises in a row - 25 nights, that is so awesome. I wish we could do that, but DH is worried he would be bored, and of course it would be difficult to get so much time off work. Not to mention the costs - I once researched it and a one-way flight (Germany-Orlando or vice versa) was actually MORE expensive than a return flight! :scared1:

I am planning to book a dinner at Palo but I'm not certain which day will be better. I don't want to miss those special dinner night, such as formal dinner, priate night, etc. Any suggestion?
Also, is there any "show" or "perofrmance" during the dinner at different resturants?

I don't think your question has been answered yet, and to all those DCL pros out there, please correct me if you find that I'm wrong:
There is one special thing going on in the restaurants, and that takes place at "Animators Palate" on the first evening you dine there, UNLESS that evening happens to be Formal Night - then it will happen on your second night there. It's not easy to find out when you will have your first dinner there, as that depends on the dining rotation you are assigned (and you usually don't find that out until check-in at the terminal).

From my research on the DIS, this may probably be the schedule for the special dinner nights:

Saturday: Welcome Aboard / Let The Magic Begin
Sunday: Formal Night
Monday: Rotational
Tuesday: Rotational
Wednesday: Rotational
Thursday: Master Chef Menu
Friday: Semiformal Night
Saturday: Pirate Night
Sunday: Flavours of the Med Menu
Monday: Captain's Gala
Tuesday: Till We Meet Again

Hi Everybody,
We are so excited to be joining you on this Magical Cruise of the Mediterranean!
We are:
Nancy
John (DH)
Greg(DS)
We are celebrating Greg's College Graduation (and our tuition emanicipation!)


Welcome Nancy, John and Greg! :welcome:
More late diners!

Hi Everyone!!

As for a group name - maybe something to do with our cruise being the first Mediterranean cruise in 2011? Or, maybe something with 101 Dalmatians, since 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the release?

"Spot" Us in the Mediterranean - Disney Magic 2011?
"Spotted" in the Med....?
Other ideas?


Welcome Vicki and Dan! :welcome:

Great ideas for the group name, especially the one about us being the first Med cruise of the year ... I'm not creative today but I will keep thinking ...

Riots in Tunis. President overthrown. I checkecked the State Dept and they are recommending tourists to stay away. Warning in affect til April. Who wants to bet they pull Tunis?

That is exactly what I came online to ask you all today! I am pretty sure DCL won't risk Tunis, too.

Hi Kevin
If they do I hope we go to Sicily. We were there in 2007 on the DCL Med cruise and took a DCL tour to the coastal town of Cephalu and loved it ! Would be very happy to go back !

Gina/ Mom:flower3:

Sicily sounds like a great replacement, and it's not too far away from Tunis so it seems realistic. Not that I would mind an additional sea day instead, either ...

[Cousin Orville]

Sicily sounds like a great replacement, and it's not too far away from Tunis so it seems realistic. Not that I would mind an additional sea day instead, either ...

I agree. I wonder how challenging it would be to book a new port just a few months ahead? Sicily definitely seems the most logical. It's close. Likely not a very competitive port for DCL to book. Hopefully they don't wait too long and just have a sea day.

On the other hand, if they keep Tunis it opens up the possibility of names for our cruise. Overthrowing the Mediterranean? The Coup of the Disney Magic?

[scrapycruiser]

Cindy

Can we get an update for the FE participants ?
I don't see the recent ones added to the FE list. Or maybe I didn't pull up the right list ?? :confused3


Just need to know how many to make. Of course, it's still early and I know they'll be more to join later. BTW, when is the cut-off to sign up for the FE ?
I would suggest April 1st ??

The Name of our Cruise ?? Vicki suggested something pertaining to being 1st in the Med and/or 101 Dalmations theme since this is the big anniv for that movie.
I suggest :

1st Spotted in the Med

Thanks again for all you do for us on these boards.

Hello to all our recent add ons ! WELCOME !

GINA :flower3:

[David & Jane]

Cindy



The Name of our Cruise ?? Vicki suggested something pertaining to being 1st in the Med and/or 101 Dalmations theme since this is the big anniv for that movie.
I suggest :

1st Spotted in the Med

Thanks again for all you do for us on these boards.

Hello to all our recent add ons ! WELCOME !

GINA :flower3:


Hi to all the new members that have joined, since we last posted before the xmas holidays

Nice to see & read all the new posts.

This will be are third disney cruise,the last cruise we did was the TA crossing on the Magic in September 2010 ( Great trip )

Our suggestion for a name is " The First Magic Spot in the Med 2011" or
" First Magic Cruise Spot in the Med 2011"

Jane & David

[Nanarella]

Hi Everybody,
Here a some more names for our cruise for your consideration:

101 Spots of Fun

101 Magical Mediterranean Spots of Fun

...to keep in mind the "101 Dalamations" film anniversary.

After reading about the trouble in Tunisia, I thought the Sicily option would be great, until I read about the eruption of Mount Etna...where else can we go?

[pamela k]

Hi all

Are are also sailing on this cruise.

It will be our 3rd cruise. We have done Disney Wonder 4 night Bahamas 2008 and last year we did the last Baltic cruise!!!

We are from Liverpool UK and it is just me Pamela & my DH Simon who are going!!

So Excited

xx:cool1:

[DopeyFan1966]

Sorry that I have been slacking. I printed all the pages this morning at work, when I get home tonight I will update the cruise website that I created for us.

If anyone has addition information regarding ports that they would like to share, please let me know and I will add it.

Everything should be update tonight.

130 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:banana::banana::woohoo::woohoo:

[DopeyFan1966]

Okay, so I added everyone to the roll call and I think I have everyone added to the FE list that requested to be added. Please check the website and let me know.

Kaceyisme: do you still have spaces left on your tours in Rome, Naples and Nice/Monaco? If you do I will add your information to the website so people can see it.

Cruise Names, so far we have the following suggestions:

101 "Spots" of Fun
101 Magical Mediterranean "Spots" of Fun
First Magic Cruise "Spot" in the Med 2011 (or "Spotted" in the Med 2011)
"Spot" Us in the Mediterranean - Disney Magic 2011
"Spotted" in the Mediterranean - Disney Magic 2011
1st "Spotted" in the Med

Make a choice and which ever one gets the most votes we will use.

I'll try to make name tags to fit the one chosen. We can make them stick on, pin on or lanyards. We did lanyards last year and they were great. I've emailed a company about making us white lanyards with black spots, I'll let everyone know how much they would cost, if everyone would like to do that then I will order them.

Cindy

[kaceyisme]

Kaceyisme: do you still have spaces left on your tours in Rome, Naples and Nice/Monaco? If you do I will add your information to the website so people can see it.
Cindy

Cindy, I actually do have room on the tours. We have room for four people on all of the tours. The people that said that they were coming with us have not replied to any of my attempts at contacting them. If anyone is interested, and you are a party of two, three or four, please let me know.

[kaceyisme]

For the cruise name, I like

First Spotted in the Med - Disney Magic 2011

[DopeyFan1966]

Cindy, I actually do have room on the tours. We have room for four people on all of the tours. The people that said that they were coming with us have not replied to any of my attempts at contacting them. If anyone is interested, and you are a party of two, three or four, please let me know.

What is the name of the companies that you are using so others can research the trips and make a decision on if they would like to join you or not

[kaceyisme]

What is the name of the companies that you are using so others can research the trips and make a decision on if they would like to join you or not

For Rome we are using Stefano Rome Cabs www.romecabs.com

For Naples we are using www.pleasantravel.com

For Villefranche it is med-tour.com

My parents and their friends have used all of the above companies and they highly recommended them all.

If anyone is interested in sharing, please pm me.

[scrapycruiser]

Cindy
Thanks for all your hard work in organizing us !

Bruce & I vote for "First Spotted in the Med "

We are using RomeCabs, Stefano in Naples & Rome and Revelation Tours in Villefranche.

[DopeyFan1966]

Information received from Disney Cruise Lines today:

Thank you for choosing a sailing that visits Tunis. We appreciate your comments.

We continue to closely monitor information about the political climate in Tunisia, and more specifically Tunis, through our port contacts.

While we are always prepared to modify our itineraries if needed, at this time, the 2011 Mediterranean sailings are scheduled to take place
as planned.

We will continue to monitor available information as our Mediterranean voyages scheduled for this summer get closer.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require further assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to sailing with you!

Have a Magical Day!

JD
Reservations Department
Disney Cruise Line

[scrapycruiser]

Also, I wanted to say that I called DCL yesterday and asked about Tunisia.

She was very nice and said that she had a form to fill out stating my opinions.
Frankly, I was very surprised by this. Anyway, Disney wants feedback from those sailing on this years Mediterranean Cruises concerning Tunis. Of the 8 cruises we've been on with Disney this is the 1st time someone has asked me for my thoughts prior to a cruise ! I'm impressed ! :thumbsup2

So I encourage everyone to phone DCL 1-800-951-3532 and voice your opinions. I said that I was not in favor of risking going to Tunisia.:scared1: I am disappointed but feel the country is too unstable. My idea is to go to Sicily instead, like we did on the 2007 Disney Med cruise. We loved Sicily.

[scrapycruiser]

Information received from Disney Cruise Lines today:

Thank you for choosing a sailing that visits Tunis. We appreciate your comments.

We continue to closely monitor information about the political climate in Tunisia, and more specifically Tunis, through our port contacts.

While we are always prepared to modify our itineraries if needed, at this time, the 2011 Mediterranean sailings are scheduled to take place
as planned.

We will continue to monitor available information as our Mediterranean voyages scheduled for this summer get closer.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you require further assistance in planning your visit, please feel free to contact us.

We look forward to sailing with you!

Have a Magical Day!

JD
Reservations Department
Disney Cruise Line

Did you get this info in an email or ?

I'm afraid DCL will wait to the last minute to decide whether or not to go to Tunis. If they don't go , it'll be too late to arrange another port :sad2:

Sea days are nice, and I'm glad we have one in the middle of our port intensive cruise. The relaxation on the ship will be needed, BUT we booked this cruise to see as much of Europe as we can, and we'll be unhappy if another port is not substituted.

[kaceyisme]

Did you get this info in an email or ?

I'm afraid DCL will wait to the last minute to decide whether or not to go to Tunis. If they don't go , it'll be too late to arrange another port :sad2:

Sea days are nice, and I'm glad we have one in the middle of our port intensive cruise. The relaxation on the ship will be needed, BUT we booked this cruise to see as much of Europe as we can, and we'll be unhappy if another port is not substituted.

I totally agree! As much as I love sea days, this is not the cruise where I want another one, especially this day, as we won't need it yet!

[livelovelaugh06]

We vote for "first spotted on the med". Everyone had such great ideas.

Could you please add our family to the FE list? Is the list we are going off of the one on the weebly site?

Thanks for your help

[DopeyFan1966]

Did you get this info in an email or ?

I'm afraid DCL will wait to the last minute to decide whether or not to go to Tunis. If they don't go , it'll be too late to arrange another port :sad2:

Sea days are nice, and I'm glad we have one in the middle of our port intensive cruise. The relaxation on the ship will be needed, BUT we booked this cruise to see as much of Europe as we can, and we'll be unhappy if another port is not substituted.

We vote for "first spotted on the med". Everyone had such great ideas.

Could you please add our family to the FE list? Is the list we are going off of the one on the weebly site?

Thanks for your help


Scrappycruiser,

Yes, I sent an email requesting information regarding our cruise and Tunis. What I posted was their response. I agree with you and hope that they make a decision early enough to book another port. Having a sea day that early is not needed and I would love to see as much as possible being this is my last year in Europe. I also hope that if they do not book another port, I would hope that we receive a refund. If they don't have to pay the port fees to dock in Tunis and we have a sea day, they should give us a refund. I don't know if this will happen though.

LiveLoveLaugh06,

Yes, the only FE list I have is on the Weebly site. We really don't have that many that are participating and I'm hoping that others will join in soon.

Hope this helps everyone, I'm looking forward to meeting you all.

[Cousin Orville]

another vote for - first spotted in the med

[scrapycruiser]

Scrappycruiser,

Yes, I sent an email requesting information regarding our cruise and Tunis. What I posted was their response. I agree with you and hope that they make a decision early enough to book another port. Having a sea day that early is not needed and I would love to see as much as possible being this is my last year in Europe. I also hope that if they do not book another port, I would hope that we receive a refund. If they don't have to pay the port fees to dock in Tunis and we have a sea day, they should give us a refund. I don't know if this will happen though.

LiveLoveLaugh06,

Yes, the only FE list I have is on the Weebly site. We really don't have that many that are participating and I'm hoping that others will join in soon.

Hope this helps everyone, I'm looking forward to meeting you all.

When is the cut-off date for the FE exchange ? Since I'm making mine I'd like to know.

I doubt :confused3 DCL would give us some money back. It says in the contract that they can change or cancel part of the itinerary without refunds. :mad:
But, Disney usually will compensate in some small way . One time we couldn't go to Castaway Cay and they gave us 4 nice DCL glasses. Not that I wanted the glasses, but at least it was something. If we do go to Tunis, I doubt we'll get off the ship except to maybe ride the camel :rotfl2:

Getting closer !!
GINA :flower3:

[scrapycruiser]

another vote for - first spotted in the med

Kevin
Are you and Gavin doing the Fe exchange ? Mom

[DopeyFan1966]

When is the cut-off date for the FE exchange ? Since I'm making mine I'd like to know.

I doubt :confused3 DCL would give us some money back. It says in the contract that they can change or cancel part of the itinerary without refunds. :mad:
But, Disney usually will compensate in some small way . One time we couldn't go to Castaway Cay and they gave us 4 nice DCL glasses. Not that I wanted the glasses, but at least it was something. If we do go to Tunis, I doubt we'll get off the ship except to maybe ride the camel :rotfl2:

Getting closer !!
GINA :flower3:

I'm going to say the cut-off will be 31 March.......I think that is a fair amount of time to allow others to join. And, also give others a chance to make, buy, or do whatever they need to do to get ready.

Cindy

[DopeyFan1966]

Is anyone interested in ordering T-Shirts?????

I can order a t-shirt in all sizes that will look like the attached, or we can change it with input from others. They would roughly cost 6.00 each, plus shipping from me to you. Which would be $10.00 or less depending on how many I send you. I can use the flat rate boxes that the post office has for those with large groups and then just an envelope for those with one or two T-shirt requests.

Please let me know if anyone is interested or not. I would have to order these by at least mid February to get them on time and back out to you.

http://cindyperrier.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album01&id=document

[scrapycruiser]

Cindy
I agree, March 31 cut-off sounds good. What does everyone else think ?

The T-Shirts are really cute ! I'll check with my family.

Bruce & I and his Mom & sister are going on the DREAM March 6- 13 for a B2B cruise. We've never done a B2B before. Just couldn't go on that new ship for 4 days! I'll let you know what I think when I return. Have some concerns about the pool areas. Doesn't seem big enough for the # of people !
And, yes, we do plan on riding the Aqua Duck ! :banana:

[kcashner]

Don't know if this has been posted yet...but we contacted DCL regarding the schedule of special nights for out cruise. This is from the e-mail I got.


Night 2 - Formal Night
Night 7- Semi-Formal
Night 8- Pirate Night
Night 10 Semi-Formal

Hope this is useful!

[DopeyFan1966]

Don't know if this has been posted yet...but we contacted DCL regarding the schedule of special nights for out cruise. This is from the e-mail I got.


Night 2 - Formal Night
Night 7- Semi-Formal
Night 8- Pirate Night
Night 10 Semi-Formal

Hope this is useful!

Last year there were two semi-formal nights listed, but when we were on the cruise and received our Navigators, we only had one semi-formal night. I don't know about this time or not, but that schedule follows the same one we had last year.

[RaglanRoad]

Just off the Wonder today for a little 2 night trip to nowhere. The best thing is this trip put me up to Gold status for Castaway Club and now I can book excursions a little sooner for the Med cruise. I really wish the Magic had the Outlook Cafe like the Wonder, this was such a nice relaxing spot to have a drink see out to sea, the deck and the pool area. Our group had alot of fun there.
I am excited now for the Med trip and it couldnt come any sooner. I will be counting down the days!!!

[DopeyFan1966]

That's awesome. Speaking of counting down the days we only have 124 days until the cruise. I wish we could book early, we have to wait until 27 February :rolleyes1. But, as soon as we get back to the states permanently we can start taking more cruises. I've only been on 1 Disney cruise and I don't think I want to take a cruise with anyone else.

Doing the happy dance thinking about the cruise.

Take care everyone. Let me know what your votes are for the name of our cruise and if you are interested in the t-shirt that I designed.

Cindy

[Marymom]

Hello Everyone!

I just made our final payment for the cruise. :banana: It is becoming more real and the excitement is building! I have been procrastinating getting the little things done. Small things like passports, tours, hotels...:rolleyes1 I will start on the list this week. But rest easy... my fish extenders are done!:rotfl::cheer2:

I vote for the name "First spotted on the Med". Have a great week!

Mary

[annichan]

That's awesome. Speaking of counting down the days we only have 124 days until the cruise. I wish we could book early, we have to wait until 27 February :rolleyes1. But, as soon as we get back to the states permanently we can start taking more cruises. I've only been on 1 Disney cruise and I don't think I want to take a cruise with anyone else.

Doing the happy dance thinking about the cruise.

Take care everyone. Let me know what your votes are for the name of our cruise and if you are interested in the t-shirt that I designed.

Cindy

I also vote for "First spotted in the Med"! (Or is it "On" the Med? I better leave that for you native speakers of English to decide :confused3) I had been meaning to come up with some suggestions as well just to be contributing something, but my creative streak seems to have completely left me. Anyway, it could never have been better that the one mentioned above, so who cares ;)

Thank you so much for offering the t-shirts DopeyFan, that is really nice of you but I think I shall pass, as I don't really wear t-shirts much. Sorry!

Another thing, could you possibly tell me what price range we have set for the per-stateroom FE gift? Still trying to decide whether I want to take part, I never have before and I am worried both that I might not come up with nice original gift ideas :idea: and that I might not have enough suitcase space :sad2:

We have also only ever done one Disney cruise and couldn't imagine cruising with anybody else, so here's anxiously waiting for February 27 as well! :cheer2:

[Maltese5]

Hi All,
We will be sailing with you on this cruise. We are in Stateroom 7598. This will be our first Med Cruise but our 7th cruise on the Magic. Looking forward to it very much.
It will be myself (Shirley), DH (Peter) and DS (Matthew 16 at time of cruise).

[kcashner]

Last year there were two semi-formal nights listed, but when we were on the cruise and received our Navigators, we only had one semi-formal night. I don't know about this time or not, but that schedule follows the same one we had last year.

I cannot verify the accuracy of the info; I can only forward to the group what DCL sent me. However, it is good enough for my purposes at this stage--it lets me identify when I want to book Palo.

AND>>>>>>tomorrow is the day for such things!:goodvibes

[DopeyFan1966]

I cannot verify the accuracy of the info; I can only forward to the group what DCL sent me. However, it is good enough for my purposes at this stage--it lets me identify when I want to book Palo.

AND>>>>>>tomorrow is the day for such things!:goodvibes

I was just giving out more information. I didn't mean to insinuate that you were wrong, I was just trying to help everyone plan. Hope you didn't take my message the wrong way.:goodvibes

So happy for you that you get to start making your reservations early. I have a whole month to go still. One day I will be a gold member and I can't wait.

[DopeyFan1966]

Another thing, could you possibly tell me what price range we have set for the per-stateroom FE gift? Still trying to decide whether I want to take part, I never have before and I am worried both that I might not come up with nice original gift ideas :idea: and that I might not have enough suitcase space :sad2:




There is no set price for the FEs. You can spend as little as you want and as much as you want. It is all up to you. I'm headed to a store we have here in Belgium called Zeeman. They have a lot of Disney stuff that isn't that expensive and I might order some customized pencils from online.

I hear you on the luggage space. It is a really tight fit, last year we over packed, this year I'm going to be very stingy with luggage space for my family.:rotfl2:

Cindy

[annichan]

There is no set price for the FEs. You can spend as little as you want and as much as you want. It is all up to you. I'm headed to a store we have here in Belgium called Zeeman. They have a lot of Disney stuff that isn't that expensive and I might order some customized pencils from online.

I hear you on the luggage space. It is a really tight fit, last year we over packed, this year I'm going to be very stingy with luggage space for my family.:rotfl2:

Cindy

Okay, thanks for letting me know! I will give the FE some more thoughts, still not decided yet though.

[annichan]

The cruise is only 119 days away and as many of you (unlike me) are now able to book your excursions online, I wanted to compensate and booked OUR first excursion as well:

I have just got Hypogeum tickets for DH and myself on Malta day, 1:00 pm. Is anybody else planning on visiting it? It is a 5000-year-old subterranean temple, and a UNESCO cultural heritage site, and in order to preserve the artifact they only let ten visitors in at one time.
When I was in Malta in the 90s I couldn't visit it as it was closed for the year, so now I am really excited to finally get to see a human structure older than any I have ever seen before in my life :yay:

[DopeyFan1966]

The cruise is only 119 days away and as many of you (unlike me) are now able to book your excursions online, I wanted to compensate and booked OUR first excursion as well:

I have just got Hypogeum tickets for DH and myself on Malta day, 1:00 pm. Is anybody else planning on visiting it? It is a 5000-year-old subterranean temple, and a UNESCO cultural heritage site, and in order to preserve the artifact they only let ten visitors in at one time.
When I was in Malta in the 90s I couldn't visit it as it was closed for the year, so now I am really excited to finally get to see a human structure older than any I have ever seen before in my life :yay:

Is this something you booked on your own or is it a Disney excursion? I really haven't looked at the excursions since last year. And if you booked it yourself, how are you getting there from the port?

[kcashner]

I'm really interested in anything people know about booking Med excursions on your own. I just looked at what's available thru DCL...as usual, the prices are high. And, as I knew in advance, many of the excursions involve LONG travel times to get to the sites.

I've contacted some friends who did the Med last year for some info, but they are on the Dream now, so I'll be waiting a while to hear from them. I was really not thrilled with the DCL excursions we did on the Dover-BCN cruise last year--we didn't have nearly enough time at some sites and way too much at others (as DD said, one beach or walled city looks pretty much like the next one!). I would really have rather had more museum time and a lot less lunch time (2+ hours for lunch....) Unfortunately, I chose the DCL excursion because there was no way I could find to do it on our own from the port we used; there was a closer port with many private opportunities!

I'm good on Barcelona--I was there three times last year. Rome--I spent a week there. It's one of the places I'd love to do again, but not for a 5 hour whirl! Ditto Florence--again, I spent a week there!

I'd really like info on Pompeii/Vesuvius. Anyone know about doing it on your own?

FYI, DCL does have several tours that are available as "family" and also available as "adults only."

[Maltese5]

Kaceyisme ....I'm not sure how to reach you as I am new to this board. There are 3 of us traveling on this cruise. It will be me(Shirley), DH (Peter) and DS (Matthew 16). We also have a private tour booked with Rome Cabs in Rome. Can you send me the details of your tour? We are currently holding a tour with a "private guide" for the Vatican. Not sure if this was your plan or not. But if so perhaps we could join you or your family could join us on this tour.

I don't have anything yet booked for Naples or Villefranche and would be interested in what you have booked in those locations as well.

Shirley

[DopeyFan1966]

Kaceyisme ....I'm not sure how to reach you as I am new to this board. There are 3 of us traveling on this cruise. It will be me(Shirley), DH (Peter) and DS (Matthew 16). We also have a private tour booked with Rome Cabs in Rome. Can you send me the details of your tour? We are currently holding a tour with a "private guide" for the Vatican. Not sure if this was your plan or not. But if so perhaps we could join you or your family could join us on this tour.

I don't have anything yet booked for Naples or Villefranche and would be interested in what you have booked in those locations as well.

Shirley

Shirley you can go to the weebly website and then click on private tours. There is someone there looking for additional people to to on private tours with them.