med. cruise

[scrawny]

Hi all. Need help. We are looking to do a med. Cruise next year with a add on to Paris for euro disney. Anybody know of any decent hotels in barcelona and Paris that won't break the bank

[gatorfreud]

I would check tripadvisor. I trust their reviews.

[ame]

I haven't stayed there yet, but we are staying at the Novotel Barcelona City pre-cruise. We got a great rate that includes breakfast and wi-fi but we booked it months ago and prepaid.

[MinnieDiva]

If you click on the link in my signature to my PTR, there are a bunch of planning threads in post 1. One of which is about hotels. HTH.

[Anal Annie]

We went to Paris for 4 nights before our Med cruise in 2011. We did a 1 night / 2 day package at a "value" resort at DLP and then we moved into the city for 3 nights / 2 days to sightsee before we went to Barcelona. So glad that we moved and changed hotels. It was so nice to be in the city where everything was so convenient and I was glad we didn't have to spend 45 minutes "commuting" to/from DLP each way. Paris is just amazing!!

I relied heavily on Trip Advisor for hotel reviews. There are something like 1,800 hotels or something crazy like that in Paris and like 500 or 600 in Barcelona. I attempted to stay within the top 100 when selecting our hotels. (Top 100 does not mean they are THE most expensive. A priority for us was to be able to sleep at least 3 / room which is difficult to find in Europe.) A friend of ours who was familiar with Paris recommended that we try to stay in the Saint Germain des Pres area of Paris so I concentrated my search on that arrondissement and we loved the neighborhood. Felt very safe. We were within walking distance to shopping on Saint Germain Blvd, a couple of different metro stops, the Seine, Notre Dame, St. Sulpice Church, the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Pantheon as well as numerous cafes. I would not call our hotel in Paris "cheap" but it also wasn't "break the bank" expensive and we really liked it. The location was perfect for what we wanted. As far as hotels in Paris go I would call where we stayed moderate and it had a distinct personality and was very old world Parisian which is what I wanted.

In Barcelona we spent 1 night pre-cruise at the Hotel Novotel - ended up being an EXCELLENT bargain (we booked early with a non-refundable rate that included a nice breakfast buffet). I would not hesitate to stay there again. Post-cruise I wanted to stay in a different area of the city so we stayed at the Hotel Jazz which was significantly more expensive than the Novotel but it was right off Las Ramblas and was very nice with a huge "triple" room, almost like a suite.

There is already an extensive Barcelona hotel thread buried here somewhere on the Cruise board plus I have a ton of info. as well as pictures in my trip report in my siggie if you're interested in checking it out for more info. We LOVED this vacation - it was FANTASTIC!! Soooo wish we could go again!!

[Anal Annie]

Originally Posted by ame

I haven't stayed there yet, but we are staying at the Novotel Barcelona City pre-cruise. We got a great rate that includes breakfast and wi-fi but we booked it months ago and prepaid.

We spent 1 night there pre-cruise and it WAS INDEED a wonderful bargain (I also pre-paid and got the breakfast plan). The breakfast was much larger than I had expected and the hotel was clean and modern. I would stay there again. There is a shopping center across the street with a grocery store - we filled up a carry-on with beer and water (most bottled water in Europe is mineral water so we stocked up on plain drinking water when we found it). The rates for this hotel went up as time went on and eventually it was fully booked before our cruise. I booked it in January for August and was glad I did!!

[woody73]

Originally Posted by Anal Annie

. . . A friend of ours who was familiar with Paris recommended that we try to stay in the Saint Germain des Pres area of Paris so I concentrated my search on that arrondissement and we loved the neighborhood. Felt very safe. We were within walking distance to shopping on Saint Germain Blvd, a couple of different metro stops, the Seine, Notre Dame, St. Sulpice Church, the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Pantheon as well as numerous cafes.

We love staying in Germain des Pres. The neighborhood has the quintessential Parisian ambiance.

Woody

[ame]

Originally Posted by Anal Annie

We spent 1 night there pre-cruise and it WAS INDEED a wonderful bargain (I also pre-paid and got the breakfast plan). The breakfast was much larger than I had expected and the hotel was clean and modern. I would stay there again. There is a shopping center across the street with a grocery store - we filled up a carry-on with beer and water (most bottled water in Europe is mineral water so we stocked up on plain drinking water when we found it). The rates for this hotel went up as time went on and eventually it was fully booked before our cruise. I booked it in January for August and was glad I did!!

that is great to know we made a good choice thankyou! I have two teenage boys and a good breakfast buffet is essential for them to start the day!! The shopping centre across the road with carrefour was on of the reasons for choosing that location. We're travelling light from Australia so will be using there to stock up on what we need. Great tip about the water. I'm not a fan of mineral water. We booked in January for June.

[scrawny]

Thank you all. I have some info in where to start. We are looking to move our 2013 cruise to 2014 for our 20th anniversary.

[ButterbearUK]

Last time I went to DLRP we stayed in the Ibis Val d'Europe. It's address is 2 Place Jean Monnet
77144 - MONTEVRAIN

It was one stop on the RER train from Disneyland Paris, clean, quiet, and relatively cheap. It was so convenient for the parks, and for taking the train into Paris as well.

Hope that helps

[Anal Annie]

Originally Posted by ame

that is great to know we made a good choice thankyou! I have two teenage boys and a good breakfast buffet is essential for them to start the day!! The shopping centre across the road with carrefour was on of the reasons for choosing that location. We're travelling light from Australia so will be using there to stock up on what we need. Great tip about the water. I'm not a fan of mineral water. We booked in January for June.

There was also a decent area with lots of restaurants about a 10 minute walk away where we went for dinner that night. It had a nice pedestrian walkway down the middle with several cafe type restaurants. We had asked at the front desk where we could go within walking distance and somebody gave us directions. If I remember correctly when we left the hotel we turned right and just kept walking until we found it. It was pretty much a straight shot walk.

The breakfast buffet had several cereals, some pastry things and scrambled eggs. I can't remember for SURE but I think there was also some bacon or something. And I think they brought carafes of coffee to the tables. After spending 4 days in Paris with their "shots of coffee" I was happy to have a full cup of "American style coffee" again!! The room was exactly like the pictures on the website. A tad plain but very modern and adequate for one nights stay. The rooftop pool was pretty but the water was very cold and had tons of small children in it. We went for a little while but didn't stay long. (It was very windy on the roof.)

The one negative I would say about the hotel is that they only have 2 or 3 small elevators and on check-out they were reallllllly hard to get. They were always full. Allow yourself plenty of time and maybe work in pairs so one can navigate the luggage while one snags the elevator. It took us elevator after elevator to get out of there because people would get on as it went up and they would commandeer it to take it to their floor. I think it is a very popular hotel for cruisers so everybody is trying to leave all at the same time to head to the port. So the elevator thing was a bit of a cluster. I would say it took us somewhere between 30-45 minutes just to get an elevator!! So start early to avoid the rush!!

[pillow]

Anal Annie,

I seem to remember reading where you're waiting for 2015 itineraries?? Me too. Any clues yet? I suppose its too early to start a speculation thread. My DS graduates in the spring of 2015. Wondering what our choices will be. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Venice to Barcelona itinerary DCL is doing in 2014. I suppose Alaska may also be an option. Will be fun to see what they offer. Hopefully something great!!

Jodie

[tluther5406]

Originally Posted by scrawny

Hi all. Need help. We are looking to do a med. Cruise next year with a add on to Paris for euro disney. Anybody know of any decent hotels in barcelona and Paris that won't break the bank

We stayed at the Hotel Barcelona Universal. The price was reasonable with breakfast included, it was within walking distance of Las Ramblas and the HOHO, the metro stop was pretty much right at the hotel, and it wasn't far from the port. We really liked it.

[Anal Annie]

Originally Posted by pillow

Anal Annie,

I seem to remember reading where you're waiting for 2015 itineraries?? Me too. Any clues yet? I suppose its too early to start a speculation thread. My DS graduates in the spring of 2015. Wondering what our choices will be. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Venice to Barcelona itinerary DCL is doing in 2014. I suppose Alaska may also be an option. Will be fun to see what they offer. Hopefully something great!!

Jodie

Yes - I think it will be 2015 before we can cruise again...our DS also graduates in 2015. We are taking 2 weeks to go to DL, Aulani & Maui this summer. (Thank GOODNESS for our DVC!!!!) While I would love, love, LOVE to do another Med cruise the airfare may be cost prohibitive...we've not sailed on either the Dream or the Fantasy yet so the Fantasy may be what we'll have to do (can tack it onto a DVC stay at WDW) and pay a lot less for our flights to stay on this side of the proverbial pond. But really I am not thinking so far ahead yet tho! We have to get thru this summers expenses first (and of course see where DS picks to go to college)!! Cross our fingers there are some good itineraries when they come out!! By 2015 I think the Dream & Fantasy can leave PC...that would be ideal - a Fantasy cruise to someplace new!! One can dream, right!!

[pillow]

Originally Posted by Anal Annie

Yes - I think it will be 2015 before we can cruise again...our DS also graduates in 2015. We are taking 2 weeks to go to DL, Aulani & Maui this summer. (Thank GOODNESS for our DVC!!!!) While I would love, love, LOVE to do another Med cruise the airfare may be cost prohibitive...we've not sailed on either the Dream or the Fantasy yet so the Fantasy may be what we'll have to do (can tack it onto a DVC stay at WDW) and pay a lot less for our flights to stay on this side of the proverbial pond. But really I am not thinking so far ahead yet tho! We have to get thru this summers expenses first (and of course see where DS picks to go to college)!! Cross our fingers there are some good itineraries when they come out!! By 2015 I think the Dream & Fantasy can leave PC...that would be ideal - a Fantasy cruise to someplace new!! One can dream, right!!

We're doing the Fantasy this December. That will be it until summer 2015. I know - those flights to Europe during the summer are killer. We did that once - not sure I can do it again. I'm thinking Alaska. Flying to Seattle is so much cheaper for us.

Jodie