Med Cruisers...Let's Discuss Planning!(Updated Tour Info, Links & BCN Info on Page 1)

[Love2Cruise]

Hi. Are the dining times shifted for ports like Rome or La Spezia to accommodate later tour return times? Thanks.

No. We had late seating, so it was fine for us.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I was just looking at maps of BCN and ATM locations. Are there any particular banks to avoid or ones that you discovered after you got home that there were issues?

Do certain banks impose higher ATM w/d limits than others?

Also how did you handle tapping cash from a street-type ATM? I was "walking around" Barcelona with the little yellow guy on google maps and saw that some banks have a door to go inside but still have the ATM on the street. I would feel like pick pockets would have a feast by just hanging around outside of them. Do those banks with a lobby have an ATM inside also? Would it be better to only tap when we have our transfer/tour driver ready to whisk us away? It's not like dh & my dad can just count their cash, unzip and tuck it all into a money belt unseen.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We had early dining and were late several times, but the mdrs accommodated us and others until 7 PM. We never went that late but others came in that late. On the overnight night in Venice, there were only 78 guests in AP for main dining. We were four of them and it was the Bella Italia dinner which I thought they should have done the following night.

Topsiders had buffet on port nights and casual dining on sea nights or early port nights... Buffet if all aboard was after 6:00.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I thought it was 20%. But keep in mind that if you don't fly direct to the US from Barcelona (and fly to another EU country thru a Layover or extended vacation) you won't have the opportunity to pick up the forms to get it refunded. We flew from BCN-AMS and there were no forms. (I am assuming you meant VAT tax, right?)[/QUOTE

You turn in the VAT form at the airport when you leave the EU. In your case that would have been AMS. You don't have to do it in Barcelona

 

[clairedy6]

We had early dining and were late several times, but the mdrs accommodated us and others until 7 PM. We never went that late but others came in that late. On the overnight night in Venice, there were only 78 guests in AP for main dining. We were four of them and it was the Bella Italia dinner which I thought they should have done the following night.

Topsiders had buffet on port nights and casual dining on sea nights or early port nights... Buffet if all aboard was after 6:00.

Was Bella Italia a new menu or some sort of show? I'd love to try a new pasta dish!!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Was Bella Italia a new menu or some sort of show? I'd love to try a new pasta dish!!

New menu with spaghetti and meatballs. And stuffoli for dessert (donut holes). They do a little show at the nd. Also there was a Bella Italia party late one night on the deck.

 

[n8tivecaligirl]

If you have early seating you will "miss" your mdr but can be accommodated in the mdr. That's why we stuck with the late dining.
I think the reason Malta was such a bad experience was that it was a Sunday. Everything is closed on Sundays.
The Bella Italia night is the overnight in Venice. Most people skipped it and took the opportunity to enjoy some great food in Venice. (I know we enjoyed a quiet dinner in Venice). They also had some sort of deck party that night also.

 

[woody73]

We had early dining and were late several times, but the mdrs accommodated us and others until 7 PM. We never went that late but others came in that late.

If you have early seating you will "miss" your mdr but can be accommodated in the mdr. That's why we stuck with the late dining.

On port intensive cruises like the Med, it would be nice if DCL offered "My Time" or "Anytime" dining.

Woody

 

[nzdisneymom]

On port intensive cruises like the Med, it would be nice if DCL offered "My Time" or "Anytime" dining.

Woody

They do accommodate you in the dining rooms late on port days - up to an hour late - and they offer most of the same food on the buffet in Topsiders which was typically open 6:30 - 8:30 (it was buffet each night that it was a late port day). Most evenings we saw people coming in considerably later than the 6:00 dinner time - we ourselves were often late because of ports, but we still prefer early dining to late because of how we like to spend our evenings post-dinner.

Our one complaint about DCL is that they need to improve their food and have a better alternate dining option to the MDR. Perhaps once the dry-dock is done with the Magic, the changes in the Topsiders area will make it more accommodating for a more typical cruise-buffet for dinner. We ate in Topsiders several nights for dinner - some when it was buffet and some when it was menu-driven. One night the service was terrible and slow - they had way more guests than they anticipated coming in for dinner. And why do they close the pizza place between 6:00 and 9:30? What if you wanted pizza for dinner at 6:30??

We choose the My Time Dining on Carnival and it works well for us - even then we find that half the time we skip the MDR and go to the buffet-style dining.

 

[clairedy6]

If you have early seating you will "miss" your mdr but can be accommodated in the mdr. That's why we stuck with the late dining.
I think the reason Malta was such a bad experience was that it was a Sunday. Everything is closed on Sundays.
The Bella Italia night is the overnight in Venice. Most people skipped it and took the opportunity to enjoy some great food in Venice. (I know we enjoyed a quiet dinner in Venice). They also had some sort of deck party that night also.

Were shops and restaurants closed or just museums and stuff like that? We're there on a Sunday too..

 

[n8tivecaligirl]

Everything but about 15% of Valletta was closed. Restaurants, shops, museums, churches (if you didn't get there early enough). There were some shops, restaurants and the palace was open for tours.

 

[n8tivecaligirl]

If your there on a Sunday I would do 1 of 2 things. 1) do an excursion 2) stay on the ship.

 

[MrSanderz27]

If you have early seating you will "miss" your mdr but can be accommodated in the mdr. That's why we stuck with the late dining.
I think the reason Malta was such a bad experience was that it was a Sunday. Everything is closed on Sundays.
The Bella Italia night is the overnight in Venice. Most people skipped it and took the opportunity to enjoy some great food in Venice. (I know we enjoyed a quiet dinner in Venice). They also had some sort of deck party that night also.

Since you had late dining... you were able to make it to the MDR each night, but were you able to make it to the early shows (even on port days) or did you have to skip some of the shows/entertainment?

 

[n8tivecaligirl]

Yes we could have made all of them. (Just how we timed private tours and personal wandering) but we only did 3 "shows" . So missing a show wasn't a big deal to us..

 

[disprincess4ever]

We stayed on the ship that overnight in Venice. The new Bella Italia menu was very good! Actually it might have been my favorite menu. They also had a little parade show during dinner. The restaurant was barely half full, which is sad because so many people missed a great menu. Afterwards they had a deck
party at 10:15pm with some local Venetian talents. It was very entertaining and I highly recommend it if you are on the upcoming sailing to Venice!

 

[MrSanderz27]

Yes we could have made all of them. (Just how we timed private tours and personal wandering) but we only did 3 "shows" . So missing a show wasn't a big deal to us..

Thanks! I know it will take some planning, but I'm glad to hear we may still be able to make some of the shows and dinner.

 

[clairedy6]

We stayed on the ship that overnight in Venice. The new Bella Italia menu was very good! Actually it might have been my favorite menu. They also had a little parade show during dinner. The restaurant was barely half full, which is sad because so many people missed a great menu. Afterwards they had a deck
party at 10:15pm with some local Venetian talents. It was very entertaining and I highly recommend it if you are on the upcoming sailing to Venice!

Was there any construction going on during your cruise due to the renovations?

 

[n8tivecaligirl]

Was there any construction going on during your cruise due to the renovations?

Every day, painting, working on electrical etc...

 

[woody73]

. . . Our one complaint about DCL is that they need to improve their food and have a better alternate dining option to the MDR.

. . . We ate in Topsiders several nights for dinner - some when it was buffet and some when it was menu-driven. One night the service was terrible and slow - they had way more guests than they anticipated coming in for dinner. And why do they close the pizza place between 6:00 and 9:30? What if you wanted pizza for dinner at 6:30??

We choose the My Time Dining on Carnival and it works well for us - even then we find that half the time we skip the MDR and go to the buffet-style dining.

Our last two cruises were the May 2013 Disney Magic EBTA followed by a June 2013 Med, including Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus, and Venice (non-DCL).

The 14-night Transatlantic had 10 sea days, and the rotational dining worked brilliantly.

Our 12-night Eastern Med cruise was port intensive, with only two sea days. We had My Time Dining which is ideally suited for this type of cruise. The main dining rooms were open continuously from 5:30-10:30, and the buffet was open from 5:00-9:00. We liked being able to dine when we wanted, as onboard times often varied, and transportation back wasn't always predictable.

Since we enjoyed the food and service in the main dining room, we never made it to the buffet. At dinner, we were typically seated immediately. Only twice did we wait for a table -- less than 5 minutes each time -- while they prepared a window table for us.

Although we like rotational dining, IMO there are better alternatives for port intensive cruises.

Woody

 

[clairedy6]

Every day, painting, working on electrical etc...

Like regular maintenance or full on renovations? Was it ever a burden or annoyance?