Who's in for GREECE and TURKEY, June 15 2003????

[mindelmouse]

For others who are planning to visit the statue of David in the Uffizi Gallery (like our family), I just found out that the Uffizi Gallery & Accademia Museum are closed on Mondays. Other museums are not.

I am so bummed, because this is the 2nd time that we wanted to see the statue of David and cannot, because the museum is closed.

I guess we will have to plan on Livorno, Lucca, and/or Pisa.

I'm sorry you must have missed the prior posts where we discussed this. It is a bummer. There is a pretty good replica at the viewing site at the top of the hill. Great view by the way

 

[abayaflowers]

I'm sorry you must have missed the prior posts where we discussed this. It is a bummer. There is a pretty good replica at the viewing site at the top of the hill. Great view by the way

Yup! Missed that important post.

Thanks for the information.

I appreciate it!

Off to more planning!

 

[nzdisneymom]

For others who are planning to visit the statue of David in the Uffizi Gallery (like our family), I just found out that the Uffizi Gallery & Accademia Museum are closed on Mondays. Other museums are not.

I am so bummed, because this is the 2nd time that we wanted to see the statue of David and cannot, because the museum is closed.

I guess we will have to plan on Livorno, Lucca, and/or Pisa.

That's one advantage for us about doing B2B - for this one, we'd be in Florence on a Monday but the next one we are there on a Saturday. And for thos one, we're in Rome on a Tuesday and the next one is the last Sunday of the month which means things like the Vatican are super crowded. It's part of why we're doing Cinque Terre when we're at La Spezia this time around and enjoying a quiet visit to Lake Bracciano on the 2nd time we're in Civitavecchia.

 

[TDC Nala]

Finally, since this is a 12-night cruise, do they let you do more than one Palo dinner and/or brunch?

Onboard, you can do as many as you want as long as there is room in the dining room. But to book ahead, you can book only one of each.

I've been to Florence so I'm doing the cooking lesson in Tuscany.

 

[MichaelH]

Getting super excited!!! Booked all of our excursions/spa/dining stuff. Plus, the Palo dinner options finally came up and I was able to book it for our anniversary. I wish we didn't have to wait until June!

Also, I was wondering if any one is going to Paris before or after the cruise? We are thinking about going from Barcelona to Paris, but we haven't ironed out any details yet as a train ride might take up too much time which means we may have to fly. We're also looking at Paris hotel options - any recommendations would be great!

We are staying in Paris before cruise. There is a new high speed train from Paris to Figueres. That is what we are doing. We are going from Paris to Figueres and have to swap trains to continue to Barcelona. We are staying here:

Paris Marriott Rive Gauche Hotel & Conference Center, Boulevard Saint-Jacques, Paris, France

 

[canadakath]

Paris is fantastic, I am jealous. But we are going to UK for a week prior to sailing to visit with an old friend and see some sights. Maybe someday I can get DH to visit Paris. Your hotel looks perfect, location is wonderful, especially since you can walk pretty much anywhere. Your kids will love it.
What part of Ontario are you from? DH is from Toronto but has been out west forever.

I am from Sarnia, Ontario (though born outside of Edmonton - go Oilers!) and went to university in Waterloo. Lots of us SW Ontarians in this group!

I am planning to book a private family tour of the Louvre and possibly a walking tour as well with Paris Muse. They have great ratings for keeping kids entertained while learning about art history! Oldest DS just finished a unit on Medieval Times and I think he will love the city and the rich history. Not that there won't be lots of history on our cruise, but I think Paris will be a little more "real" for him as opposed to the more abstract ruins. And what kid (or adult) doesn't want to go up the Eiffel Tower?

 

[Deb in IA]

I'm sorry you must have missed the prior posts where we discussed this. It is a bummer. There is a pretty good replica at the viewing site at the top of the hill. Great view by the way

Oh, shoot! I missed the earlier posts about this too.
Darn. Of course, we were hoping to see the "real" David, but I guess the outside replica will have to do.

Onboard, you can do as many as you want as long as there is room in the dining room. But to book ahead, you can book only one of each.

Thanks for the information, Nala! That is very helpful!

 

[ImprovGal]

I have only booked shore excursions. When I went to check-in it was not working so I thought I could do later and just have not gotten back to it. We are using DCL transportation so the port arrival time does not mean much to us also I think we are in a different group being platimum now but it is our first time so I don't know that one for sure.

As a Platinum, when you go to do the online checkin, it doesn't bother having you state a port arrival time. Instead it will say something like "As a Platinum guest, feel free to arrive at the port whenever the heck you want."

 

[ImprovGal]

I've been to Florence so I'm doing the cooking lesson in Tuscany.

I really hope we reach quorum on this excursion! I'll probably be sitting by the phone waiting for the heartbreaking "Dear ImprovGal" phone call from shoreside up until my flight.

 

[mindelmouse]

Ok, based on the information we've gotten here, we've decided to do private tours in both Greece and Turkey. So that means we have private tours booked for Barcelona, La Spezia, Civitavechhia, Ephesius, Athens and Malta. We'll do DCL excursions if we can get them in Villefranche and Mykonos. The tours in Greece and Turkey were half the price of DCL and highly rated and reviewed on trip advisor.

 

[DL1957]

As a Platinum, when you go to do the online checkin, it doesn't bother having you state a port arrival time. Instead it will say something like "As a Platinum guest, feel free to arrive at the port whenever the heck you want."

Thanks for the info!

 

[Deb in IA]

Ok, based on the information we've gotten here, we've decided to do private tours in both Greece and Turkey. So that means we have private tours booked for Barcelona, La Spezia, Civitavechhia, Ephesius, Athens and Malta. We'll do DCL excursions if we can get them in Villefranche and Mykonos. The tours in Greece and Turkey were half the price of DCL and highly rated and reviewed on trip advisor.

I was thinking about that too, but DH is a really nervous traveller, and definitely wants the security of a DCL excursion.

Honestly, he thinks all of Europe is made up of theives, swindlers and pick pockets, and he's afraid of getting ripped off by the locals.

 

[mindelmouse]

I was thinking about that too, but DH is a really nervous traveller, and definitely wants the security of a DCL excursion.

Honestly, he thinks all of Europe is made up of theives, swindlers and pick pockets, and he's afraid of getting ripped off by the locals.

We felt that way as well for Greece and Turkey so we going to go with DCL arranged private tours. However, from what we are seeing there is a good possibility that none are left. We dont like the group tours that DCL has because not only are they expensive but they don't take us everywhere we want to go. Some of these countries I may neve me get the opportunity to go back to so I want to really see them. As I said, the tours we picked got very high reviews on trip advisor. We got our private tours that way last time and we were fine.

 

[long_time_cruiser]

I've been to Florence so I'm doing the cooking lesson in Tuscany.

My husband and I are booked this excursion too since the museums in Florence are going to be closed. We love to cook so we are really looking forward to it. We did a cooking class excursion in Mexico and really enjoyed it so hopefully this one is even better!

 

[nzdisneymom]

My husband and I are booked this excursion too since the museums in Florence are going to be closed. We love to cook so we are really looking forward to it. We did a cooking class excursion in Mexico and really enjoyed it so hopefully this one is even better!

One day when we cruise without kids, I want to do these kinds of activities!

 

[Lynn G]

I have been trying to find out if the hiking trails in Cinque Terre (La Spezia) are open yet, info seems to say they are planning a Spring 2013 opening. Has anyone been able to find out more info on whether or not these trails will be open? Thanks for any input.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I have been trying to find out if the hiking trails in Cinque Terre (La Spezia) are open yet, info seems to say they are planning a Spring 2013 opening. Has anyone been able to find out more info on whether or not these trails will be open? Thanks for any input.

I haven't been able to find anything recent, so I just emailed their Park Service. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[Tozzie]

I really hope we reach quorum on this excursion! I'll probably be sitting by the phone waiting for the heartbreaking "Dear ImprovGal" phone call from shoreside up until my flight.

it has been a really long time since I posted on this thread but I did this excursion in 2011. It was awesome and there were only 9 people on it so I don't think you have to worry too much about it being cancelled

 

[nzdisneymom]

I have been trying to find out if the hiking trails in Cinque Terre (La Spezia) are open yet, info seems to say they are planning a Spring 2013 opening. Has anyone been able to find out more info on whether or not these trails will be open? Thanks for any input.

I heard back from the Cinque Terre park service.
They said use this site:
http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/sentieri_parco.asp for information about the trails that are open, etc. There is an English version just click on the English flag. The red dots are the trails that are currently closed. So I guess we can check as it gets closer to time to travel to see what's open and what's not.

 

[Lynn G]

I heard back from the Cinque Terre park service.
They said use this site:
http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/sentieri_parco.asp for information about the trails that are open, etc. There is an English version just click on the English flag. The red dots are the trails that are currently closed. So I guess we can check as it gets closer to time to travel to see what's open and what's not.

Thanks, that is where I went, according to that, all the lower trails are closed, but it has not been updated since Sept 2012. I had read somewhere that the trails were supposed to be open by Spring 2013, so just hoping I could find an update - guess I will just have to be patient and wait until "spring".