Back to the Med in 2013! More planning links added post 1

[MinnieDiva]

A pre-trip report for The Med already? Yup. I figure that if I dont start one, Ill drive my family nuts for the next 499 days. So, where to begin?

Hi! Im MinnieDiva and I have a bit of a Disney obsession. I refuse to believe that I need a 12-step group, but I do think I need an outlet for my OCD-tendencies. Besides the coffee pot (which was cured by buying a Keurig) and the garage door obsessions (always think I drive away leaving it open), Disney, specifically my next trip involving something Disney-related, constantly percolates in my brain. After referencing many other peoples trip reports, Ive decided to funnel some of my energy here! I havent done this before, so hopefully some of you all will actually read this and find it interesting&

My family is booked on the June 15, 2013 Mediterranean Cruise (Greece itinerary). Our party consists of myself, my DH, my DD (who will be 10 when we go), and my dad. The 3 of us went on the August 18, 2010 10-day Med cruise; we booked that one 22 months out on the 1st day they were released. That was our first cruise, DCL or otherwise (my dad has done a Celebrity cruise about 13 years ago). Last year, we went on one of the Alaska cruises. See a pattern here?

My goal with this trip report, other than to channel some of my energy, is to hopefully get some of you out there as excited as I was while planning our last Med cruise. My husband so did not get the boards, other than the fact that I quoted them almost daily. And, he totally did not understand the fact that the people on the cruise meet thread were becoming friends! He gets it now&..

So heres how this trip got booked:

Early January: With DCL rumors in full swing, I call my dad and ask if hes interested in going to the Med with us. I explain that I have NO idea what the itineraries are going to be, but that we were hoping for some new ports to change up the itinerary that DCL has (IMO) done to death. I launch into an explanation about booking, cabins, rates, and how I was going to book the 1st day I could and that he needed to commit one way or another. I told him he had about 2 weeks to think it over. I think hes used to me by now, but I do sound like a nutcase, dont I?

January 22-ish: Informed dad that current rumors had itineraries being announced 1/24/12.

January 24th: (my husbands b-day, by the way&happy b-day honey, Im about to spend a sh*#-load of money). Itineraries announced. Boy, talk about a bit disappointed that I had to choose between Venice/Dubrovnik and Greece/Turkey. DCL couldnt do it all in one? Sigh, ok, press on. It is what it is. Discussions with the family, discussions with dad, all agree that Greece wins. So what date? Having done the Med in August, I wanted to go as early as possible. Take DD out of school the last week of 4th grade? Sure. Not like they learn anything the last week anyway! Far more educational to go on this trip than to stay to help clean the classroom or do talent day or&.who knows what. My window for being able to do this is rapidly shrinking, so Im going to take advantage of it while I can. Besides&we live in northern WA State. Were closer to Canada than Seattle. We rarely hit 80 degrees in the summer. A shock to go from here to the Med in August? Absolutely! But more on that later. So, June 15th it would be.

January 26th: Shock and despair hearing reports of how much a cabin was going to cost us (silver CC member&couldnt book until the 27th). Two cabins, actually, since my dad is coming with us. We briefly entertained the thought of a suite&..but 1. They sold out, and 2. No WAY I was going to spend $20k or higher. So, rush to look at what other lines would cost us and look at other itineraries, yada yada&.oh, and I feel the need to mention here that it wasnt just our family on this emotional roller coaster, it was our good friends Mindelmouse and Bigbootee. We met them on the last Med cruise&but more on that later, too. By looking at other lines, I felt like I was cheating on my best friend! It was horrible!

January 27th: Ive used Dreams Unlimited for all 3 cruises and several DL/WDW trips. LOVE them! Anyway, our TA (Merrie&highly recommend), know what we were looking for, and I had a quote ready for me by 9am PST. To my surprise, my quote for a 9B (same cabin type I had the last MED cruise) was LESS than what I paid for 2010! Ok, yes, I did transfer a dummy date over, but still, it would have been dead even, including 2 additional days!!! Hallelujah!! And the quote for the 2nd room (no OBB transferred) for my dad wasnt awful either! Connecting rooms&.were on our way!! Then, to convince our friends that they needed to come with us! Didnt end up being all that hard to do&.

Ok, now what? Deposit paid, excitement level way up! Popped in on already-started meet thread, new itinerary with port times and map printed and taped to the wall by my computer&.Is it time to go yet?????

Thanks to Tinkerbelltwins, here is a list of links to various trip reports and informational threads that are far more current than the 2007 sticky on the trip reports section:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2870617 [Thread: Barcelona Hotels Precruise]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2868221 [Thread: If you have done the Med Cruise before with Disney]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2868499 [Thread: Questions for past Med cruisers]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2663068 [Thread: Med planning in 2011]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2288346 [Thread: lots of great planning links]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2653459 [Thread: Villefranche on your own]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2653459 [Thread: Cinque Terre on your own]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2663068 [Thread: Med Ports on your own]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2485312 [Trip Report: DisneyFalcon's First Med Cruise - Our Excellent Adventure]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2435876 [Trip Report: Magic in the Med: Dicecatt and Dicedawg's April 24th Voyage]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2487593 [Trip Report: Sayhello's ABD Trip Report for the Med 2011]
http://thewhitehouseblog.weebly.com/index.html [Trip Blog: Anal Annie's trip report/blog of Med cruise and trip beforehand to Paris]
http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/ [Trip Blog: Bibbidibobbidibecky's DCL blog which has her Med cruise in it]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread....&highlight=med [Video Trip Report: Phil, Emma and Ben's Med Cruise]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2746104 [Trip Report: Janey2000's Magical Med Cuise June 2011]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2761025 [Trip Report: Lornak's Med Cruise 2011]
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise...iterranean.htm [Magic in the Med: Disunplugged in the Med 2010]

And a blog with navigators from 2011 as posted on our meets thread by mehaul:

http://www.worldofmouse.com/2011-med-excursions.html

And this TR off cruise critic...this isn't Disney, but has many of the same ports and does several excursions with RomeinLimo:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...ighlight=magic

Found another interesting site:
http://www.culturaltravelguide.com/

And a compilation of the planning sites/companies I used (though you'll find then in the body of the report as well):
Barcelona Day Tours: http://www.barcelonadaytours.com
Rome in Limo (for La Spezia and Rome): http://www.romeinlimo.com
Magical Steps Tours (Ephesus): http://www.magical-steps.com/ephesus-tours
Hellenic Private Tours: http://www.hellenicprivatetours.com/

Ticket sites:
Vatican: http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/...sita=26&step=2
***FYI, dates are released for booking at midnight Rome time. For me, that was 3pm PST, so when my date was released I could book at a decent time of day! Sundays will cause a skipped released booking day***
Coliseum/Forum/palatine Hill: http://www.ticketclic.it/database/B2...DefID=170&LN=1
Pisa: http://boxoffice.opapisa.it/Turisti/
La Sagrada Familia: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/?lang=0

Google Map I created: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...60256,0.822601

[MinnieDiva]

hold for travel day to Barcelona: June 12-13, 2013

The plan: Fly from home to CA, stay overnight with dad and head up early the next morning to SFO to fly to Barcelona!!

[MinnieDiva]

hold for pre-cruise Barcelona tourism: June 14th, 2013

The plan: We're scheduled to arrive early am, 7:30-ish. We have an apartment reserved, currently for 2 nights as our original flight plans changed with an incredible American Airlines deal. Thinking of keeping both night so that we can check in and have someplace to store the luggage and shower if needed. Our plan is to rent Go-Cars: http://www.gocartours.es. We figure that will keep us awake and engaged thru the day.

Tickets have been booked for entry to La Sagrada Familia here: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/?lang=0
You are asked to reserve a time slot. We chose 12-1, to ensure there would be no issues with flight delays.

[MinnieDiva]

hold for day 2 Barcelona and embarkation: June 15, 2013! The day I've waited 499 days for!

The plan: Nothing specific, and as we're on our own to get to the port, we'll play it by ear. Taxi!

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
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[MinnieDiva]

hold for Villefranche: June 16, 2013

The plan: Originally thought we'd do it on our own. DCL's Value Package: Nice & Monaco excursion mirrors what we wanted to do. It spoon-feeds us, but takes the hiking up hills equation out of the picture for my dad.

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
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[MinnieDiva]

hold for La Spezia: June 17, 2013

The Plan: Private tour for 8 arranged thru Rome in Limo for Pisa and Lucca. As this is the day the Patron Saint of Pisa is celebrated, we opted to change our climb in Pisa to the afternoon. In case you're interested, the Patron Saint is Ranierius. Likely, what will end up being closed is the baptistry and cathedral during a celebratory mass (as per Rome in Limo). Link to tickets to climb the tower: http://boxoffice.opapisa.it/Turisti/.

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
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[MinnieDiva]

hold for Civitavecchia: June 18, 2013

The Plan: Private tour arranged with Rome in Limo for 12; private guide to accompany all day. We have pre-purchased tickets for the Forum/Coliseum/Palatine hill here: http://www.ticketclic.it/database/B2...DefID=170&LN=1
If you choose to buy these ahead of time, be aware that you need to print them immediately. The email that is sent to you confirming the purchase doesn't have the tickets attached to it, but does have a link if something goes wrong with your attempt to print (run out of ink, printer dies, power failure...you know).
Link to Vatican tickets: http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/...sita=26&step=2.

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
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We have Palo dinner reservations this day.

[MinnieDiva]

hold for Sea Day 1: June 19, 2013

Suggested dinner attire: Formal Night
Menu: Can we assume Golden Mickeys??

[MinnieDiva]

hold for Sea Day 2:June 20, 2013

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
Menu:

[MinnieDiva]

Hold for Athens: June 21, 2013

We opted to reserve a private tour after seeing how fast the "rent-a-van" option thru DCL went. After contacting a few different companies and doing research on all the applicable websites, we decided to go with Hellenic Private Tours: http://www.hellenicprivatetours.com. A party of 12 for Athens and Cape Sounion AND a guide all day is $580E. Entrance fees and lunch is not included with this price.

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
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[MinnieDiva]

Hold for Kusadasi: June 22, 2013

This was another port we'd intended to go thru DCL, but with all the private tours once again gone after Platinum/Concierge booking, we did the obligatory research and opted to go thru Magical Steps Travel: http://www.magical-steps.com/ephesus-tours . Their fee was slightly higher, $470 USD (dollars!!!!) for a party of 8 but included lunch, a guide, and all the admissions except the Terrace Houses (which seems to be standard amongst all the tour companies).

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
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[MinnieDiva]

hold for Mykonos: June 23, 2013

Currently, 7 of the 8 of us are booked on the Delos excursion. My dad has still yet to book...he's a newbie to DCL and has to wait until that stinking 75-day mark . There initially seemed to be some issues with availability, so we'll see what pans out. Worst case scenario is that we do this on our own. He could also do an adult-only excursion. We shall see...I've read that it's fairly easy to get to Delos once you get off the ship, but my fear is that I'd get nudged out of making a ferry and not making it back to the ship on time. UPDATE: 8/8 booked on 10:45 excursion!!

Suggested dinner attire: Pirate Night.....which then brings up the question....to bring Pirate attire or not? I'd have to make something new for DD. Easily enough accomplished, I guess...
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[MinnieDiva]

hold for sea day 3: June 24, 2013

Suggested dinner attire: Semi-Formal
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[MinnieDiva]

Hold for Malta: June 25, 2013

Private tour scheduled thru Touring Malta: http://www.touringmalta.com. We are going to see Valletta (including the Co-Cathedral), Blue Grotto (conditions permitting), the Hagar Qim Temples, and Mdina. We opted to forgo the fishing village, as all adults involved thought the Temples would be interesting to see. Cost for 8 is $445E, required a $50E deposit. Does include a guide, but not the entrance fees or lunch. I read about the company here: http://www.thepreismans.com/med_silhouette.htm. Interesting TR and good pics!!

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
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[MinnieDiva]

hold for sea day 4: June 26, 2013

Suggested dinner attire: Cruise Casual
Menu: