Greek Isles Cruise 6/26: The Fairy Godblogger Report: Completed!

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Hi everyone! I have finally started posting my trip report from our Greek Isles cruise on June 26 on my blog! We had a long European adventure and I am finally up to the cruise portion of our trip! I just finished up Disneyland Paris if that interests anyone, along with Iceland, England and Paris!

We had a wonderful cruise and I hope reading my report can help others the way I was helped before this trip!

I'll update here as I add new days.

All Aboard: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disney-greek-isles-cruise-time-to.html

First Day at Sea: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disney-greek-isles-cruise-magical-day.html

Katakolo, Greece: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disney-greek-isles-cruise-katakolo.html

Piraeus (Athens), Greece: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disney-greek-isles-cruise-piraeus.html

Kuşadası, Turkey: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disney-greek-isles-cruise-kusadas.html

Rhodes, Greece: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/09/disney-greek-isles-cruise-rhodes-greece.html

Mykonos, Greece: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/09/disney-greek-isles-cruise-mykonos.html

Second Day at Sea: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/09/disney-greek-isles-cruise-back-to-back.html

Final Day at Sea: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/09/disney-greek-isles-cruise-coming-to.html

Disembarking and Venice: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/09/disney-greek-isles-cruise-see-ya-real.html

Our Dancing All Over the World Video!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onrd03j9wOA

 

[marciemouse]

Off to a great start! Your pictures of sailing out of Venice are fabulous!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Off to a great start! Your pictures of sailing out of Venice are fabulous!

Thank you! My husband is the photographer and took some amazing pics on our trip. It's hard to decide what to post sometimes!

 

[mkmommy]

What an amazing trip!

Your kids are real troopers your long day in Iceland would have started a mutiny with my kids!

I do need to go back a read on the laptop so I can get a better look at the picture.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

It really was an amazing trip! Thanks for reading

My kids really did great on the trip! We put them through the travel wringer for sure. My youngest got a little whiny a few times, but it seemed like she was only really unhappy if she got hot. I think ipads, ipods, snacks etc. kept them going strong!

We really would like to go back to Iceland. It's such a unique country!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Our first day at sea is up and ready: http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disney-greek-isles-cruise-magical-day.html

 

[Alohagirl73]

Really enjoying your trip blog. Very well written and descriptive. Still reading about Paris!!! Thank you!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Really enjoying your trip blog. Very well written and descriptive. Still reading about Paris!!! Thank you!

Thank you! That's very kind and thanks for reading!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I have just posted our first port stop, Katakolo, Greece! http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/08/disney-greek-isles-cruise-katakolo.html

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I've posted through Turkey with LOTS of pics!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I just added Rhodes and am nearly done with Mykonos, which was probably my favorite stop!

 

[packerbeth]

Hi! I posted in the blog and you asked me to post here, too. Good thing I remembered my username. It's been a while!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Hi! I posted in the blog and you asked me to post here, too. Good thing I remembered my username. It's been a while!

Yay! Hahaha, I totally understand! This way I can PM you when I post the Magic review. I'll try to use as many pictures as possible because if you are like me, that's what you want to see before your trip! You'll love the ship though, it looks great in my opinion!

 

[packerbeth]

Yay! Hahaha, I totally understand! This way I can PM you when I post the Magic review. I'll try to use as many pictures as possible because if you are like me, that's what you want to see before your trip! You'll love the ship though, it looks great in my opinion!

The more photos the better, thanks!

 

[twinmum]

Just wanted to chime in and thank you for spending time to write such a wonderful trip report! I have gone back and followed from when you first left the States...what an amazing travel experience you have had!

It's been especally interesting for me to read because:

- when I was 7 years old, we travelled from our (then) home in Vancouver to Belfast. Because (unless there were terrific tailwinds) airplanes in those days (the 60's, baby!) could not travel that far without refueling, we actually refueled on the return in Iceland. Of course we all got off the plane (down the stairs, not jetways yet!) and walked around just so we could say we had "been" to Reykjavic.

- I found your TR because we are researching for a trip next summer. The strongest contender is the UK, likely just England. Your post inspired me to get moving on the planning. We've had many work/leisure trips to the UK, but we are excited to bring our boys for their first visit.

- in 2012, we had an amazing 2 week trip to France, so many of your adventures sounded very familiar!

- one of our boys is a real historian, and would love to see more of ancient Europe. He would love your itinerary, and I was imagining how enthralled he would be

- and finally, we've enjoyed 3 DCL cruises (2 Bahamas on the Dream, 1 Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy) and I think the Med cruises sound so delightful. So nice to not worry about how to get from place to place. I've been concerned about travelling from port to places of interest and that eating up a lot of time, but that doesn't seem to have been your experience.

However...and here's where I have a question for you...our boys are now 15 (they are twins). Born extremely prematurely, one of our sons (the historian) has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around on vacation. And, when we cruise my hubby spends oodles of time on the verandah. When you need an accessible cabin and a verandah, you need to book on Day 1 or there's nothing available...usually not even concierge, which is out of our budget!

If we did manage to book a cruise with a similar itinerary, what impressions did you have of accessibility in the ports? I talked to Adventures by Disney last year and to be honest, they really didn't recommend their Italy trips for us, for example. France had its challenges but was definitely worth the effort. When you think of all you did, would it be at all feasible with a wheelchair? We imagine organizing a wonderful trip, then having our historian be absolutely devastated by how little he could actually see/experience.

Any thoughts?

And once again, thank you!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Thanks, Twinmum for the nice comments on my blog! I love how many fellow travelers have contacted me through it. That's great that you got to walk around Reykjavik! I bet it didn't look much different in the '60s than what it does today

As far as your question about the accessibility, that's tough for me to give you a very educated answer. I will tell you that the hardest parts I could see would be getting on and off public transportation. If he can get out of the wheelchair long enough to get on and off a train or subway then I think you would be fine. We actually had several conversations on this trip about how hard it would be to be in a wheelchair and using the public transportation! Often times on the trains you have to actually step up and then down to get on and off.

Most of the places you visit however are accessible. My father has limited mobility and will only take steps if he has to. With the exception of the Acropolis in Athens, most places we visited this summer had elevators that he used, even in the subway stations. The Acropolis is actually the only place that comes to mind where I don't see how you could do it in a wheelchair. And while I know it's not the same, when we did the Med cruise in 2011 we used a double stroller the whole trip. After the cobblestone streets throughout Spain and Italy our wheels were shot, but we were able to get around everywhere with it!

In general, however, compared to the U.S. Europe isn't nearly as accessible, but if you stick to the main tourist destinations and larger cities, I think he could have a very enjoyable trip!

When I think about England, I think he would be fine. Stonehenge is accessible, most of London and Bath would all be doable. If you did France with the wheelchair, then I think you could easily do England!

I'm sorry I'm not a ton of help. I had a friend whose husband is in a wheelchair ask me recently if I thought he could do Costa Rica and I couldn't tell her much either! I think I need to pay better attention next trip!!

 

[twinmum]

Thanks, Twinmum for the nice comments on my blog! I love how many fellow travelers have contacted me through it. That's great that you got to walk around Reykjavik! I bet it didn't look much different in the '60s than what it does today

As far as your question about the accessibility, that's tough for me to give you a very educated answer. I will tell you that the hardest parts I could see would be getting on and off public transportation. If he can get out of the wheelchair long enough to get on and off a train or subway then I think you would be fine. We actually had several conversations on this trip about how hard it would be to be in a wheelchair and using the public transportation! Often times on the trains you have to actually step up and then down to get on and off.

Most of the places you visit however are accessible. My father has limited mobility and will only take steps if he has to. With the exception of the Acropolis in Athens, most places we visited this summer had elevators that he used, even in the subway stations. The Acropolis is actually the only place that comes to mind where I don't see how you could do it in a wheelchair. And while I know it's not the same, when we did the Med cruise in 2011 we used a double stroller the whole trip. After the cobblestone streets throughout Spain and Italy our wheels were shot, but we were able to get around everywhere with it!

In general, however, compared to the U.S. Europe isn't nearly as accessible, but if you stick to the main tourist destinations and larger cities, I think he could have a very enjoyable trip!

When I think about England, I think he would be fine. Stonehenge is accessible, most of London and Bath would all be doable. If you did France with the wheelchair, then I think you could easily do England!

I'm sorry I'm not a ton of help. I had a friend whose husband is in a wheelchair ask me recently if I thought he could do Costa Rica and I couldn't tell her much either! I think I need to pay better attention next trip!!

Thanks for the info! I know you're not an expert, but your experiences with your father and with a stroller certainly give you some insights. I find that sometimes tour providers want to be so careful, both for safety and because they want to be sure it all works...and maybe they don't have the resources to do a little extra...

It does give me more hope, and I do think I'd like to plan something for 2016, when they finish high school (yikes!).

Keep writing...I'll keep reading!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Thanks for the info! I know you're not an expert, but your experiences with your father and with a stroller certainly give you some insights. I find that sometimes tour providers want to be so careful, both for safety and because they want to be sure it all works...and maybe they don't have the resources to do a little extra...

It does give me more hope, and I do think I'd like to plan something for 2016, when they finish high school (yikes!).

Keep writing...I'll keep reading!

That would make a wonderful graduation gift! And, yes, I think tour operators are afraid to tell you everything will be great when in reality you may hit a few snafus. I think what I would do is research exactly where you want to visit and then either contact the places directly or look on their websites. Practically every tourist attraction has a website now with a wealth of information! That way you won't be surprised by anything once there. I know your son would love England though if he's a bit of a historian!

Off topic, but did you see the volcano erupting in Iceland? It's right under the glacier my family and I walked on! Scary stuff.

Mykonos is nearly done!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Shameless bump for Mykonos because I love it so!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I just posted our final sea day/aka final day of the cruise

It includes info about what Disney on the Fourth of July, a few games/game shows they offer on sea days, Friendship Rocks, and the 'Til We Meet Again party, which I have a love/hate relationship with.

Enjoy!

http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/2014/09/disney-greek-isles-cruise-coming-to.html