7/13/13 ~~ Eastern Mediterranean Mouseketeers!

[slg]

"Next, embark on a 75-minute tour of the center of the Catholic Church, the Vatican"

this is listed on the jump back to eternal rome, so you do get a peak of the vatican. Whether or not we see the sistine chapel, that I do not know.

I actually would think that a smaller tour and lunch would probably end up costing $150.

The tour busses seat about 50 I think. I have not found them horrible in the past.

I also actually like going with other people. Yes, some of them can be annoying, but sometimes you can make friends and it enhances the experience a lot! Especially for the kids.

[slg]

On the "back to eternal rome" you go to Rome by Train which I love as we are all train buffs.

Just hope the train is air-conditioned.

[pirateluv]

Yes, certainly hope the train is air-conditioned! The buses are, and you get free water, take it!!! It will be hot. Anyway, the train is our first choice too!

Joan

[slg]

did you do this excursion last time? Did they give you advice on where to eat?

[pirateluv]

NO, last time we did "Best of Rome" which included the Sistine Chapel, and also included lunch. This time we are wanting to include the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain.

Joan

[Newfoundland Sailor]

Originally Posted by slg

On the "back to eternal rome" you go to Rome by Train which I love as we are all train buffs.

Just hope the train is air-conditioned.

The "Jumping back to Eternal Rome" was one of the sold out excursions for us last time we were in Rome...by the time we came up with a second choice that one was sold out as well (as well as our third). We ended up going on our own.

So my advice would to be to take care of the Rome excursions first (if you are going DCL) when booking online when your check-in slot opens up. (Probably not so bad for Platinum and Gold - but definitely if you are silver or a first timer).

And yes, the train was air conditioned.

[pirateluv]

Thank you Heather. Yes it is always good to have a Plan B, or C!!!The moment that booking window opens up is always so stressful!!!

Joan

[JimmyJackJunior]

Splurged today on buying the complete Rick Steves television show on Europe. 90 Episodes and more than 10 of them are relevant to this trip.

[WDW Princess 71]

Originally Posted by JimmyJackJunior

Splurged today on buying the complete Rick Steves television show on Europe. 90 Episodes and more than 10 of them are relevant to this trip.

How much did it cost?

[JimmyJackJunior]

Originally Posted by WDW Princess 71

How much did it cost?

$72 plus tax. It did not look like it was avaiable on the US Amazon site but was available on the Canadian. Always check both in case it makes more sense to send to my US post office box.

[calihannah]

Originally Posted by slg

On the "back to eternal rome" you go to Rome by Train which I love as we are all train buffs.

Just hope the train is air-conditioned.

I'm pretty sure this is the tour that we did in 2011, and yes, the train was at least somewhat air conditioned. The tour was FAST (a lot of ground to cover) and the lunch was so-so, but we sure did get to see a lot! It poured on us at the Coliseum, which was actually refreshing, given how hot and humid it was

[gmark2000]

Originally Posted by JimmyJackJunior

Splurged today on buying the complete Rick Steves television show on Europe. 90 Episodes and more than 10 of them are relevant to this trip.

I looked on iTunes and there are a lot of free podcasts by rick Steves available. Good for research and familiarization of the sites/cities visited.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/...364274299?mt=2

[JimmyJackJunior]

Originally Posted by gmark2000

I looked on iTunes and there are a lot of free podcasts by rick Steves available. Good for research and familiarization of the sites/cities visited.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/...364274299?mt=2

Already downloaded them. I think my daughter has listened to Rome 10 times.

[Stimpy]

Originally Posted by slg

That's why I always pick the all day excursions!

I too am comfortable going around Europe on my own. I have not lived there but have been numerous times and have an apartment in Portugal.

I'm just choosing to do the DCL because on a cruise, I don't need the stress and I want someone to look after everything for me. We are going to be in Paris 10 days on our own before the cruise schlepping around on our own, and I know that I am in the one in the family who does all the planning, booking, researching, deciding where to go, when to get up, what to take for the day, where to eat,and frankly, its exhausting and I need a break too!

I also do all the research beforehand and then consult with the family, but ultimately, I pick the excursions too.

The idea of planning every minute of every port day to please everyone in my family would take the fun out of my cruise for me, and if anything went wrong, I'd feel responsible. We travel a lot and when we cruise I need to relax. Also its going to be HOT and it makes it hard to make decisions on where to eat, go, do when everyone is cranky and hot and tired. So, let DCL take it over for me

However, I definitely understand why people would do their own thing in ports.

This is exactly why we are doing mostly DCL tours! Perfect way of explaining it! Everything seems to fall on me so if something goes wrong they can blame them instead of me LOL. The whole idea of planning individual city tours is just too much additional stress for me...and only me.
I'll be stressed enough...the month before I'm chaperoning an 8th grade trip to Quebec for 5 nights, we just decided to take my DSil & her family to their first WDW trip in August & may sneak in another cruise or trip in between with friends. I feel like we'll be living out of a suitcase!
Does anyone think DCL will do something special for Bastille Day? DS brought it up the other day since he's taking French & they were talking about it.

[slg]

Stimpy:

Have we been on any other cruises together? Your name is familiar.

Check my signature for all my cruises.