Back to the Med Greece/Turkey in 2013! Complete!

[Tired mom of 3 boys]

On another savings note, I jumped on the Target sale for gift cards today- buy a $50 gift card (I.e. Disney card) and get a $10 Target gift card. (Can't be used on he same transaction) I also used my Target credit card to get an additional discount. All in all, I purchased each gc for $48 and bought enough to get 3 $50 gc "free" with the accumulated $10 cards. There was a coupon - people said it was on the target FB page. Offer expires tomorrow. Down side....they're only supposed to do one coupon per transaction - thank goodness for the kind people who work at our Target!! You can apply those cards to the cost of your cruise!

 

[MinnieDiva]

I did not think about drawing cash from the CC. not a bad Idea. the savings was not what enticed me ... it was the paying for it before the cruise ... I paid the cruise and airfare off pretty quickly we dont like bills lingering around. With that being said all your points are valid ... but this is also a reputable company with many reviews on many sites.... either way now I have to rethink this ....

I don't want to use a debit card overseas...to easy to get into that pool of cash that backs it up. Just make sure you have a PIN number for your CC. Also, not all CC's have the same rules for overseas use (fees-wise). I use a CC linked to my credit union as it had the best rates for international transactions. Some also differentiate between cash withdrawals and purchases. I think Capital One is fee-free, but I'm not going to apply for it just to have it for international trips. Their rewards seem to be good, tho...one friend uses hers for everything and keeps telling us that all her airfare seems to come from points.. (or seems to anyway..)

I contacted Rome in Limo and this was their response (they emailed back very promptly, btw..I swear they never seem to sleep):

Hi Kim

Sorry but it has to be all at once or cash at the end, i understand that you wish to wait but for many request that we have from different clients we decided to allow prepayment until the end of January.

Thank you
Jany

 

[MinnieDiva]

On another savings note, I jumped on the Target sale for gift cards today- buy a $50 gift card (I.e. Disney card) and get a $10 Target gift card. (Can't be used on he same transaction) I also used my Target credit card to get an additional discount. All in all, I purchased each gc for $48 and bought enough to get 3 $50 gc "free" with the accumulated $10 cards. There was a coupon - people said it was on the target FB page. Offer expires tomorrow. Down side....they're only supposed to do one coupon per transaction - thank goodness for the kind people who work at our Target!! You can apply those cards to the cost of your cruise!

Sigh...I miss Target. We have it a drive away (lol..as you know...) but I NEVER go there as dealing with the traffic in that area is such a pain!

 

[tajz90]

No foreign transaction fees with CapitalOne Venture Travel card (gold version) .

 

[mindelmouse]

The regular capital one has no foreign transactions fees as well....we got that card specifically to go internationally with. It was fun when we thought we lost it on our last med trip and had to cancel the card, only to find it in the laundry....

 

[mindelmouse]

Sigh...I miss Target. We have it a drive away (lol..as you know...) but I NEVER go there as dealing with the traffic in that area is such a pain!

I have a target not too far from me and can pick stuff up for you, if you need.

 

[MinnieDiva]

Just saw this on dcl's site:


Please be aware that on June 17, 2013 (Disney Magic 12 Night Greek Isles Cruise), saint patron of Pisa is celebrated. Religious sites such as the Cathedral and Baptistery may be closed for temporary events. The Piazza and the Leaning Tower of Pisa will be available.


Hmmmmm.

 

[mindelmouse]

gone very quiet here... Happy Holidays all!!!

 

[MinnieDiva]

gone very quiet here... Happy Holidays all!!!

That whole holiday thing, I'm sure. I don't know about everyone else, but between work, holiday stuff, and housework, I've been about swamped. Add to that all the running I've been doing. Less than a month until the Tinkerbell 1/2, so those long runs take up almost 2 hours, the shorter ones at least 1 hour.

So in contacting Rome in Limo, they seem to think that there will be a Mass, and specifically said either at 10 or 11 am. In light of that and their suggestion, we're going to flip our day and do Pisa in the afternoon. I JUST NOW!!! as I'm writing this got a reply from them. It's past midnight in Italy. I swear...they never sleep.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy!

 

[SparklesofHope]

Just wanted to pop in and say thank you for this trip report! I've been agonizing over whether or not to keep our reservation for the June 8th DCL 7-Day Med sailing or change it to an ABD Italy trip.

After reading through the first few pages of this thread, I am very excited about visiting Cinque Terre, Rome, and Pompeii/Sorrento. Would you change anything about your visit to Cinque Terre? I've read that the views from a boat are amazing!

 

[MinnieDiva]

Just wanted to pop in and say thank you for this trip report! I've been agonizing over whether or not to keep our reservation for the June 8th DCL 7-Day Med sailing or change it to an ABD Italy trip.

After reading through the first few pages of this thread, I am very excited about visiting Cinque Terre, Rome, and Pompeii/Sorrento. Would you change anything about your visit to Cinque Terre? I've read that the views from a boat are amazing!

Hi! Glad you're following along! At this point, we'll be waving at each other...you getting off the ship as we get on!

I would have gotten up and off the boat far faster. We seriously underestimated how long the tender process was and then the walk to the train. It was a mile-ish? With construction nearby that caused us a detour, so we watched a train pull off that we could have been on....

Our original plan was to hike the whole trail from the farthest-out all the way in. The views are spectacular! I know I posted a bunch of pics at the beginning to this Tr, but they really don't do it justice. There are many areas on the trails where you have views or what was behind you or what is coming up. It was rather surreal, actually, looking at this unbelievable scenery I had seen on TV so many times!

To do it by boat versus hike? Kinda depends on how active you are. The two trails we didn't do are the hardest and longest. The ones we did do weren't bad at all. You can buy a ticket option that can be for the boat or the train, I believe. That way you can wus out on the hard trails! Lol!

 

[SparklesofHope]

We're in decent shape, but we'll have our 2 kids with us, so we'll use that as our excuse for not hiking the whole trail (LOL)!

We booked Rome in Limo for Rome & Naples, but not sure what to do in Villefranche yet.

 

[mindelmouse]

We're in decent shape, but we'll have our 2 kids with us, so we'll use that as our excuse for not hiking the whole trail (LOL)!

We booked Rome in Limo for Rome & Naples, but not sure what to do in Villefranche yet.

We're traveling with Minniediva. We are using rome in limo for rome and pisa. I believe for Villefrance we may be doing it on our own or a DCL tour. When we were there last time we saw Eze. This time we want to do Nice and Monaco. In some of the early tours they posted there seemed to be a decent one that did those cities.

 

[MinnieDiva]

http://mobile.seattletimes.com/story/today/2020049312/track-ip_news_lite-1.2.2-./

 

[MinnieDiva]

This was posted on our meets thread:



June 15th -Casual
June 16th- Casual
June 17th- Casual
June 18th- Casual
June 19th- Formal Night
June 20th- Casual
June 21st- Casual
June 22nd- Casual
June 23rd- Pirate night
June 24th- Semi-formal
June 25th- Casual
June 26th- Casual


Someone got the info from the concierge. So if I'm remembering, the formal night is a sea day. I have to look for pirate and the SF night.

 

[MinnieDiva]

Today I am officially doing the PIF dance! Woot! Called today to make my payment and added the tips in to boot! I'm mentally calculating my payment out in Disney points.....

 

[Tired mom of 3 boys]

Today I am officially doing the PIF dance! Woot! Called today to make my payment and added the tips in to boot! I'm mentally calculating my payment out in Disney points.....

Time to call the TA - already paid for one room in full - time for the second. Minniediva, I made up a spreadsheet of estimated costs and have a way to through in the current currency rate... Yes, I am an accounting nerd....

 

[MinnieDiva]

Time to call the TA - already paid for one room in full - time for the second. Minniediva, I made up a spreadsheet of estimated costs and have a way to through in the current currency rate... Yes, I am an accounting nerd....

I love it!! What costs are you estimating? Excursions and whatnot? Shopping?

 

[Tired mom of 3 boys]

I love it!! What costs are you estimating? Excursions and whatnot? Shopping?

Estimated food in port, excursions (used actual Rome in limo fee at euro rate and then adjust rate when I check it), same with prices to enter vatican, the tower in pisa, etc, shopping... Mostly just a stab in the dark, but it makes me feel proactive. Trying to pay as much in advance as we can!

 

[Tired mom of 3 boys]

Wish I could claim credit, but the family we're traveling with sent this to me last night!

Dear Traveler,

This Saturday, January 12th, we'll be hosting a live, all-day webcast — 8 “Test Drive a Tour Guide” presentations on Europe’s best destinations as they’re covered by the itineraries in my tour program.

No matter where you are, between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Pacific Time, you can watch live from my website, Facebook page (click on the 'Live Festival' tab) or YouTube channel.

Here is Saturday’s schedule:
9 a.m. Italy
10:30 a.m. Eastern Europe
11:45 a.m. Spain
1 p.m. Germany-Austria-Switzerland
2:15 p.m. Turkey
3:30 p.m. France
5:30 p.m. Venice-Florence-Rome
7:30 p.m. Irreverent History of Europe Through the Back Door
What prompts all this travel talk? My annual tour guides summit, which has brought dozens of European travel experts into town. They’ll be helping me with these presentations, and rubbing elbows with hundreds of tour alums at our big Tour Member Reunion Party, taking place on the same day.

I hope you can join us!

Rick Steves