7/13/13 ~~ Eastern Mediterranean Mouseketeers!

[FloridaMom3461]

Received our cruise documents, luggage tags, etc in the mail yesterday - reality sets in! Yay!

 

[LovesToRun]

Received our cruise documents, luggage tags, etc in the mail yesterday - reality sets in! Yay!

Oh, how exciting!!! I'm glad they are getting sent out now... we leave on July 2, and I was worried ours might come after we leave. I can't wait to get ours!

 

[DisneyManFamily4]

Disney for us too!

 

[DionysiusP]

Cruise documents a month early! Fantastic! That will go a long way to keep anxieties low. I am such a worry. Plan, plan plan!

 

[MrsG]

We are also doing Disney excursions. Takes away the stress involved with doing it on our own. We always find Disney excursions are well worth it for us. The guides are usually very knowledgeable and we don't have to worry about being late to board the ship!

 

[Eleblanc]

LOL! Glad to hear that I am not alone!!! Fortunately, all else is very comfortable attire...

You are not alone! The pirate gear, heels and formal attire are all coming with us. Don't get many chances to wear them otherwise and they make those evenings special on the cruise. Also, I want the pictures!

 

[MrsG]

You are not alone! The pirate gear, heels and formal attire are all coming with us. Don't get many chances to wear them otherwise and they make those evenings special on the cruise. Also, I want the pictures!

I hear you. In fact, DH just rented a tux for the cruise through Cruiseline Formalwear. He'll wear the tux formal night and bring a shirt and tie for semi-formal night. It beats bringing a jacket and dress shoes in our luggage.

 

[bellelinus]

I was hoping to get cruise docs today since some already have . . . none for me yet, though. Do most people have them today?

 

[Stimpy]

No cruise docs here yet but glad to see they are starting to come!

 

[bellelinus]

No cruise docs here yet but glad to see they are starting to come!

Good, I'm not the only one! I am ridiculously excited about the prospect of getting the official cruise docs.

 

[Amy Fran]

I was hoping to get cruise docs today since some already have . . . none for me yet, though. Do most people have them today?

None here yet either.

 

[bellelinus]

I hear you. In fact, DH just rented a tux for the cruise through Cruiseline Formalwear. He'll wear the tux formal night and bring a shirt and tie for semi-formal night. It beats bringing a jacket and dress shoes in our luggage.

Maryann, you know we love to dress up! I never care if someone else on the cruise doesn't want to, but getting dressed for dinner most nights and especially formal and semi-formal nights, is really part of the cruise experience for me.

 

[LovesToRun]

We got our cruise documents in the mail today!! So excited!!!

It definitely seems even more real now!!

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

We are also doing a private tour with MeliTour, and we also at this point have no reason to consider a change.

Also, if things suddenly do get bad, and Disney makes the choice to pull out, MeliTour will give a 100% refund on any money we've already paid them if our ship ends up not coming into port.

Hopefully it'll all be just fine when we are scheduled to be there.

I guess we will see you back at their ranch for lunch then.

 

[LovesToRun]

I guess we will see you back at their ranch for lunch then.

Yah, we might see you guys there. We're looking forward to the experience of having a home-cooked Turkish lunch at their ranch, and seeing their home.

I know there is also a large group from our cruise who have booked MeliTour as a group tour (I think it's around 20 - 25 people). The only reason I know is when I contacted MeliTour to inquire about a private tour, they told me that there is a large group from our cruise that have booked a group tour, and they were looking for more people to join the tour (I think probably to bring the cost down even more), and they asked us if we were interested in doing that group tour instead of a private tour (it would have been a lot cheaper for us), but I said no.... we don't want to do a group tour in Ephesus.

But, then I asked if the ranch would be really crowded for lunch since there is a large group from our cruise with Melitour, and if that would take away from the atmosphere for us on a private tour, or how that would work. They wrote back to me and assured me they are used to this kind of situation, and they will stagger things so they will make sure the large group eats before or after us, so when we get there, it won't be crowded with a large group. So, that was nice to know.

But, when you start your tour, you might want to ask your guide to make sure they are staggering you with the large group tour and ask to make sure you will be going to the ranch when the large group is not there. Even though they told us they'd stagger us, I'm still going to ask our tour guide to make sure this happens.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Yah, we might see you guys there. We're looking forward to the experience of having a home-cooked Turkish lunch at their ranch, and seeing their home.

I know there is also a large group from our cruise who have booked MeliTour as a group tour (I think it's around 20 - 25 people). The only reason I know is when I contacted MeliTour to inquire about a private tour, they told me that there is a large group from our cruise that have booked a group tour, and they were looking for more people to join the tour (I think probably to bring the cost down even more), and they asked us if we were interested in doing that group tour instead of a private tour (it would have been a lot cheaper for us), but I said no.... we don't want to do a group tour in Ephesus.

But, then I asked if the ranch would be really crowded for lunch since there is a large group from our cruise with Melitour, and if that would take away from the atmosphere for us on a private tour, or how that would work. They wrote back to me and assured me they are used to this kind of situation, and they will stagger things so they will make sure the large group eats before or after us, so when we get there, it won't be crowded with a large group. So, that was nice to know.

But, when you start your tour, you might want to ask your guide to make sure they are staggering you with the large group tour and ask to make sure you will be going to the ranch when the large group is not there. Even though they told us they'd stagger us, I'm still going to ask our tour guide to make sure this happens.

Going back to the ranch for an authentic lunch was one of the high points. When we booked with Asli she said we were the first Disney cruise customers they had ever had. That obviously changed.

 

[Sox1N04]

We have a guide/driver for our Villefranche port, but there is no itinerary...it's all whatever we want to do. Anyone who's been to Eze before, are there any must-do's? Or even if you haven't been, anything you've read?

 

[LovesToRun]

Good, I'm not the only one! I am ridiculously excited about the prospect of getting the official cruise docs.

Going back to the ranch for an authentic lunch was one of the high points. When we booked with Asli she said we were the first Disney cruise customers they had ever had. That obviously changed.

Us, too.... Authentic lunch, amongst just having our own guide + a/c car was huge drawing point for us.

it might be when you booked, the large group had not yet booked yet, and you were the first Disney guest. When we booked they told us this large group had just booked, but were looking for more people to join their group.

They told me it was the owner of a travel agency that deals w/ lots of Disney cruise bookings that was organizing this group (apparently, they are all clients of this particular travel agency).

But, we said no thanks.

I am really looking forward to our time in
Ephesus.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

Us, too.... Authentic lunch, amongst just having our own guide + a/c car was huge drawing point for us.

it might be when you booked, the large group had not yet booked yet, and you were the first Disney guest. When we booked they told us this large group had just booked, but were looking for more people to join their group.

They told me it was the owner of a travel agency that deals w/ lots of Disney cruise bookings that was organizing this group (apparently, they are all clients of this particular travel agency).

But, we said no thanks.

I am really looking forward to our time in
Ephesus.

I had the same attitude as you. This is once in a lifetime. I wanted something that was tailored exactly to what we wanted to do with no trips to second hand carpet dealers. There were certainly far cheaper tour guides but melitours was about the most accomodating outfit I had ever dealt with.

 

[LovesToRun]

I had the same attitude as you. This is once in a lifetime. I wanted something that was tailored exactly to what we wanted to do with no trips to second hand carpet dealers. There were certainly far cheaper tour guides but melitours was about the most accomodating outfit I had ever dealt with.

I could not agree with you more!! Yes, once in a lifetime, and we also wanted something tailored extactly to what we wanted (yes, no carpet dealers, etc)... but most of all, just the best company I have ever dealt with, too, in terms of private tours. Just so so nice, and every email I have received from Asli has been so accommodating, yet so personable yet professional.

I'm confident that this will be our best tour on the trip, I think. I seriously am looking so forward to the ranch! I love having opportunities to immerse myself into the culture in some way (and that can be hard to do on a cruise since you are only in port for a day), so it'll be so neat to experience authentic Turkish food, and just see in their home (B&B) and meet their family...

Also, there are 6 of us (our family, and my parents), and they going to put us in our own 12 passenger A/C van (Mercedes, but I think all the private cars regardless of the company seem to use Mercedes... but at least it won't be a run down Ford 12 passenger van. ) just for our family for the same price as a mini-van would have been (they could have crowded all 6 of us in a mini-van), but with the kids, and my parents who are in their 70's, they chose to give us a bigger vehicle so we could just have more space inside to sort of stretch out(I didn't ask for that, but she just offered it when she noticed we had both kids and "seniors" (as much as my parents hate being called that ). I was really impressed by that (amongst so many other things).

And, I didn't have to even ask for us to be staggered with the large group for lunch, when I just asked if we'd all be eating lunch together (so LOTS of people there at the same time), she told me no, that they'd stagger, so we won't feel crowded... so again, just really well thought out to make sure everyone gets the best experience they had planned on.

I can't wait to go!!! It was Ephesus that attracted us most to this particular itinerary.