7/13/13 ~~ Eastern Mediterranean Mouseketeers!

[Newfoundland Sailor]

On the "back to eternal rome" you go to Rome by Train which I love as we are all train buffs.

Just hope the train is air-conditioned.

The "Jumping back to Eternal Rome" was one of the sold out excursions for us last time we were in Rome...by the time we came up with a second choice that one was sold out as well (as well as our third). We ended up going on our own.

So my advice would to be to take care of the Rome excursions first (if you are going DCL) when booking online when your check-in slot opens up. (Probably not so bad for Platinum and Gold - but definitely if you are silver or a first timer).

And yes, the train was air conditioned.

 

[pirateluv]

Thank you Heather. Yes it is always good to have a Plan B, or C!!!The moment that booking window opens up is always so stressful!!!

Joan

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Splurged today on buying the complete Rick Steves television show on Europe. 90 Episodes and more than 10 of them are relevant to this trip.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Splurged today on buying the complete Rick Steves television show on Europe. 90 Episodes and more than 10 of them are relevant to this trip.

How much did it cost?

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

How much did it cost?

$72 plus tax. It did not look like it was avaiable on the US Amazon site but was available on the Canadian. Always check both in case it makes more sense to send to my US post office box.

 

[calihannah]

On the "back to eternal rome" you go to Rome by Train which I love as we are all train buffs.

Just hope the train is air-conditioned.

I'm pretty sure this is the tour that we did in 2011, and yes, the train was at least somewhat air conditioned. The tour was FAST (a lot of ground to cover) and the lunch was so-so, but we sure did get to see a lot! It poured on us at the Coliseum, which was actually refreshing, given how hot and humid it was

 

[gmark2000]

Splurged today on buying the complete Rick Steves television show on Europe. 90 Episodes and more than 10 of them are relevant to this trip.

I looked on iTunes and there are a lot of free podcasts by rick Steves available. Good for research and familiarization of the sites/cities visited.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/rick-steves-italy-venice-florence/id364274299?mt=2

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

I looked on iTunes and there are a lot of free podcasts by rick Steves available. Good for research and familiarization of the sites/cities visited.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/rick-steves-italy-venice-florence/id364274299?mt=2

Already downloaded them. I think my daughter has listened to Rome 10 times.

 

[Stimpy]

That's why I always pick the all day excursions!

I too am comfortable going around Europe on my own. I have not lived there but have been numerous times and have an apartment in Portugal.

I'm just choosing to do the DCL because on a cruise, I don't need the stress and I want someone to look after everything for me. We are going to be in Paris 10 days on our own before the cruise schlepping around on our own, and I know that I am in the one in the family who does all the planning, booking, researching, deciding where to go, when to get up, what to take for the day, where to eat,and frankly, its exhausting and I need a break too!

I also do all the research beforehand and then consult with the family, but ultimately, I pick the excursions too.

The idea of planning every minute of every port day to please everyone in my family would take the fun out of my cruise for me, and if anything went wrong, I'd feel responsible. We travel a lot and when we cruise I need to relax. Also its going to be HOT and it makes it hard to make decisions on where to eat, go, do when everyone is cranky and hot and tired. So, let DCL take it over for me

However, I definitely understand why people would do their own thing in ports.

This is exactly why we are doing mostly DCL tours! Perfect way of explaining it! Everything seems to fall on me so if something goes wrong they can blame them instead of me LOL. The whole idea of planning individual city tours is just too much additional stress for me...and only me.
I'll be stressed enough...the month before I'm chaperoning an 8th grade trip to Quebec for 5 nights, we just decided to take my DSil & her family to their first WDW trip in August & may sneak in another cruise or trip in between with friends. I feel like we'll be living out of a suitcase!
Does anyone think DCL will do something special for Bastille Day? DS brought it up the other day since he's taking French & they were talking about it.

 

[slg]

Stimpy:

Have we been on any other cruises together? Your name is familiar.

Check my signature for all my cruises.

 

[Stimpy]

Stimpy:

Have we been on any other cruises together? Your name is familiar.

Check my signature for all my cruises.

I believe we were on the Baltic together. This will be our 7th DCL cruise.

 

[Hanover]

Just booked our flights last night. Flying out of Dulles airport on 7/11 to Barcelona via a layover in London. After the cruise we are flying to Paris for 3 nights and then returning back to Dulles. Still deciding on a hotel in Barcelona for our 1 night pre cruise stay.

We looked through the excursions and have our wish list ready to book on 3/15. We are all really excited for this trip!

 

[slg]

You can book on March 15? We have to wait until March 30 and we are GOLD. You must be platinum or concierge. Lucky you.

What excursions are you booking? I'm decided to, although I'm debating two in Turkey and two in France. I have back-ups too, just in case.

 

[pirateluv]

Sigh ... lucky both of you..... we are lowly Silver so our booking is even later!
I am looking at the Best of Ephesus, for Turkey. Anybody have any ideas for LaSpezia, we did Pisa last time, and I was sad to so much closed in Florence on the day we are there. I am thinking of Cinque Terre??

Joan

 

[tajz90]

Yep, we can't book till the 30th either. There is only one tour I have my eye on right now. We will see how it goes. Booked a private tour for Turkey. Contemplating one for Athens, but seriously considering just going it alone. So many decisions and I haven't really started SERIOUSLY thinking about it. Time is getting short, but it seems so far away.

 

[disneycrazy2004]

We can't book till April 15 ....I have a private tour booked on Turkey and would love to book one in Rome, not sure which one yet. The rest I think we are doing on our own.

 

[tajz90]

Is there anyone going to Delos on their own? Trying to decide if I should just go with he ship.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Is there anyone going to Delos on their own? Trying to decide if I should just go with he ship.

I was doing my Mykonos research today. We are there on a Monday and according to Wikipedia Delos is closed on Mondays.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Mykonos

As for excursions we are Silver as well. Looks like very little in Disney excursions for me.

 

[tajz90]

I was doing my Mykonos research today. We are there on a Monday and according to Wikipedia Delos is closed on Mondays.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Mykonos

As for excursions we are Silver as well. Looks like very little in Disney excursions for me.

We are there on Sunday.

Did you think about doing Delos on your own? I just can't decide!

 

[calihannah]

We can't book till April 15 ....I have a private tour booked on Turkey and would love to book one in Rome, not sure which one yet. The rest I think we are doing on our own.

So is this the silver date? I am constantly confused