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

[MinnieDiva]

Originally Posted by 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!

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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..._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]

Originally Posted by 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.....

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]

Originally Posted by Tired mom of 3 boys

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]

Originally Posted by MinnieDiva

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

[MinnieDiva]

Originally Posted by 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

Did you watch? I was at a swim meet for the bulk to the day and couldn't.

[CJCPixieDust]

Originally Posted by MinnieDiva

Did you watch? I was at a swim meet for the bulk to the day and couldn't.

Just finished reading through this thread and the cruise meet thread- thanks for the fabulous information! It's good to know there are other swim/Disney/planning Mom's out there! I also spent all weekend watching swimming. My daughter had a school meet and club practices and we watched my son's meet online which was streamed live all weekend. Swimming keeps a family busy! We have had this cruise reserved for a long time, but weren't sure we could definitely go until recently. So, now I can let myself start planning. Thanks for sharing all this great information. We have cruised with DCL, but this will be our first trip to the Mediterranean. Excited, but nervous...

[MinnieDiva]

Originally Posted by CJCPixieDust

Just finished reading through this thread and the cruise meet thread- thanks for the fabulous information! It's good to know there are other swim/Disney/planning Mom's out there! I also spent all weekend watching swimming. My daughter had a school meet and club practices and we watched my son's meet online which was streamed live all weekend. Swimming keeps a family busy! We have had this cruise reserved for a long time, but weren't sure we could definitely go until recently. So, now I can let myself start planning. Thanks for sharing all this great information. We have cruised with DCL, but this will be our first trip to the Mediterranean. Excited, but nervous...

Welcome! What sailing are you on? Have you gotten the air taken care of? Shocking how expensive that part is!
That's pretty neat that you can watch the meet online! I've never heard of that being done up here....

[lilpooh108]

Hi there,

Would you mind PM'ing me the quote you got from Rome in Limo? We're on the June 1 cruise and I've emailed a few companies for quotes for Rome. We have an odd group of 9, and so we need 2 vehicles. I'm trying to see if the prices I've gotten (there's a wide range) might be on par w/your group of 12 since I'm guessing you guys will need 2 cars too.

Thanks alot!

[CJCPixieDust]

Originally Posted by MinnieDiva

Welcome! What sailing are you on? Have you gotten the air taken care of? Shocking how expensive that part is!
That's pretty neat that you can watch the meet online! I've never heard of that being done up here....

Hi! We're on the June 15th sailing. We just got the flights a couple days ago after much research and following fares, etc...for a while. Working on the travel insurance for those today. As for the meet, it was one of the bigger USA Swimming meets, which was why it was online. The usual local meets are not online. Really fun to see, though- commentators and everything! How old is/are your swimmer(s)? My kids are so excited about this trip, but I'm sure they have only a little idea of what's going into the planning!