June 1st Med Magic

[Disney mam]

I forgot all about this, when we got home and put DS 9 photos on the computer we realised that he had taken a couple of pictures of his food. He ordered Escargo and really enjoyed them, I had to try one as I didn't want to let him down. He also ordered the Lobster, I think it was lobster macaroni but sure was big mac, he also enjoyed that.

My son will give anything a try which is great because up until last September he was a Lacto-Ovo vegetarian!!

Here are his foodie pics.







I didn't even know he had ordered this as he was sitting next to his Dad and my table guest and I were chatting.

 

[jeni37]

It is wonderful that he is an adventurous eater! My DD is very picky right now. Her two older brothers have become more adventurous with age. I love the pics! Keep them coming! Looking at the photos my children take are one of my favorite things to do after we return home. I am a scrapbooker and love to put them in our albums!

 

[Disney mam]

This was the last port before a sea day.



We pre-ordered breakfast using room service by placing the card on the door because we found it easier to get ready and off the ship. For this we were going to do it on our own again. We did consider getting a taxi to Herculaneum which costs only 70euros and waits 2 hours for you to enjoy the area before returning you to port. We thought we would see how everyone was feeling and if my knee was holding up before we decided to take a taxi or catch the train. We all enjoyed the other train experiences and felt confident to do it again.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kiki_304/media/DSC_5658.jpg.html

Firstly, you get to the port gates and there is a mass of taxi drivers touting you for business! 1 even walked a bit with us to see if he could persuade us into a taxi. There were drivers there with names on a board for pre booked excursions. Once we finally got past the taxis and ignored them or saying NO, there is the exit onto a main road. We crossed the road and turned right making our way to the Circumvesuviana station at Piazza Garibaldi. There were street maps posted along the way telling you where you were and where the station was situated.

Firstly let me just say, Naples was creepy and run down. Not the safest feeling walking to the station with my camera around my neck. But TBH, no one bothered us, but I felt uneasy. The road crossing is crazy, green man means they should stop, but you have to start walking or they will carry on going. DH and I just walked into the road and as soon you your foot hit the road they just stopped! Crazy but cool. lol

We turned left after about 4 blocks and the station was on the right aboat 5 mins up the road. I saw a lovely little workshop where a stonemason was carving beautiful sculptures, it was so lovely to see. This is one of the reasons we loved walking to the stations, as we got to see lots of cool things like this and the real Naples. At the station we went into the information centre where the lady gave us a timetable and marked the station. We knew we wanted to get off at Ercolano Scavi. The train took about 20 mins but it goes onto Pompeii and Sorrento.
Tickets costs 2.20 euros each way per person.



When you leave the station head downhill and you will see the entrance for Herculaneum. It is about a 10 minute walk through the town.

As soon as you enter there is a bridge to go over where you will get your first glimpse of a beautiful site!!! Walk on and the ticket office and entrance is in the building on the left. Showed the boys passports and they got in for free. I only saw Spanish guide books there and ask at the desk for an English book, which he found in a drawer.
We got there around 9:30 and there were only a handful of other people there. It did pick up a little after, but not much where you would call it crowded.



My boys loved it, they were in awe of everything they saw and couldn't believe it was 2000 years old. They didn't know where to look next and were saying how good the mosaics and paintings were. They were sayaing "come and look at this, and wow look at that". They did say that it was their favourite place to visit from the whole cruise.

In the evening it was Pirate or cruise casual. We enjoyed our dinner and went to see the magic show that was on in the theatre. The kids loved it, but it is just like most other magic shows we have seen. After this it was party time where we went to deck 10 and joined in the dancing and fun. We all loved the show and the fireworks were wonderful, just a lovely way to end the day. We went for something to eat at the buffet but it was really busy and not the sort of food I enjoyed, so mainly had fruit.

Any pictures that are sepia are what my son took. We only found this out when we got home and they look better than some that my DH took. lol




http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kiki_304/story/15629

Will post pirate night pictures and others again.

 

[lilpooh108]

This was the last port before a sea day.



We pre-ordered breakfast using room service by placing the card on the door because we found it easier to get ready and off the ship. For this we were going to do it on our own again. We did consider getting a taxi to Herculaneum which costs only 70euros and waits 2 hours for you to enjoy the area before returning you to port. We thought we would see how everyone was feeling and if my knee was holding up before we decided to take a taxi or catch the train. We all enjoyed the other train experiences and felt confident to do it again.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kiki_304/media/DSC_5658.jpg.html

Firstly, you get to the port gates and there is a mass of taxi drivers touting you for business! 1 even walked a bit with us to see if he could persuade us into a taxi. There were drivers there with names on a board for pre booked excursions. Once we finally got past the taxis and ignored them or saying NO, there is the exit onto a main road. We crossed the road and turned right making our way to the Circumvesuviana station at Piazza Garibaldi. There were street maps posted along the way telling you where you were and where the station was situated.

Firstly let me just say, Naples was creepy and run down. Not the safest feeling walking to the station with my camera around my neck. But TBH, no one bothered us, but I felt uneasy. The road crossing is crazy, green man means they should stop, but you have to start walking or they will carry on going. DH and I just walked into the road and as soon you your foot hit the road they just stopped! Crazy but cool. lol

We turned left after about 4 blocks and the station was on the right aboat 5 mins up the road. I saw a lovely little workshop where a stonemason was carving beautiful sculptures, it was so lovely to see. This is one of the reasons we loved walking to the stations, as we got to see lots of cool things like this and the real Naples. At the station we went into the information centre where the lady gave us a timetable and marked the station. We knew we wanted to get off at Ercolano Scavi. The train took about 20 mins but it goes onto Pompeii and Sorrento.
Tickets costs 2.20 euros each way per person.



When you leave the station head downhill and you will see the entrance for Herculaneum. It is about a 10 minute walk through the town.

As soon as you enter there is a bridge to go over where you will get your first glimpse of a beautiful site!!! Walk on and the ticket office and entrance is in the building on the left. Showed the boys passports and they got in for free. I only saw Spanish guide books there and ask at the desk for an English book, which he found in a drawer.
We got there around 9:30 and there were only a handful of other people there. It did pick up a little after, but not much where you would call it crowded.



My boys loved it, they were in awe of everything they saw and couldn't believe it was 2000 years old. They didn't know where to look next and were saying how good the mosaics and paintings were. They were sayaing "come and look at this, and wow look at that". They did say that it was their favourite place to visit from the whole cruise.

In the evening it was Pirate or cruise casual. We enjoyed our dinner and went to see the magic show that was on in the theatre. The kids loved it, but it is just like most other magic shows we have seen. After this it was party time where we went to deck 10 and joined in the dancing and fun. We all loved the show and the fireworks were wonderful, just a lovely way to end the day. We went for something to eat at the buffet but it was really busy and not the sort of food I enjoyed, so mainly had fruit.

Any pictures that are sepia are what my son took. We only found this out when we got home and they look better than some that my DH took. lol




http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kiki_304/story/15629

Will post pirate night pictures and others again.

Love the Sepia. Very Indiana Jones

 

[jedijill]

I've heard Herculaneum is much better than Pompeii. It's on my list of places to go back to.

Jill in CO

 

[bsusanmb]

Sunday was a sea day and we were up early. The boys went straight to club after breakfast and DH and I chilled with a coffee by the adults pool. It was lovely a quiet this early in the morning and we were the only ones there for a bit.
We decided to just enjoyed the day looking around the ship. We got the boys and took them enjoy the pool for a bit before it got too crowded. I saw lots of people saving loungers!! They did not just save one, they saved them for all family members, then let their kids fall asleep on them whilst they had towels and clothes on others. No one approached them from DCL, but that may be because there was a couple of spares dotted around the place.

We had some lunch and dropped the boys back to the club because they just loved them. DH and I decided to pop back to the adult area and relax for a while. We found lots of empty loungers with items placed on them (but no one in sight belonging to them). We did have a chuckle at a few men who were at the bar and not using the loungers but had all their stuff on loungers! Their "empty" loungers had become shaded so they got their stuff and moved it to the bar area to a sunny are. If they were already sitting in the sunny bar, then why did they have a lounger? Probably hoping to go back in the sun I guess at some point in the day. (Not going to say what language they were speaking)

Okay, so now is the exciting part. We heard of a wedding taking place on board with a DIS member!! and I remembered my Dress was all creased up and I forgot to send it to be sorted!! Had to go iron it in that small room really quick or I would miss the wedding.
We were told we could view the service from the deck above, and thought we would go along for support. My DH took photos of the beautiful Bride and Groom with the sea in the background. Shame the Disney photographer wouldn't pull back a bit, he seemed to only want to take close ups. I have shared the photos with the bride and she claimed they are better than Disney's (which I am shocked).



After the Wedding I had to get ready for Formal night. We were on early seating and the wedding started at 4pm, I was cutting it close. I managed to get the kids from club, get ready and have a picture with the Captain before dinner. Luckily our table mates were just behind us (as the night before they had followed us in), perfect timing.
I didn't get the photo with the Captain because I didn't like it.



Dinner was nice, went smoothly and my oldest boy ordered off the adult menu. Kenloy and Joy were our servers and we were sat at table 35. They were good with the kids, doing magic tricks throughout the cruise and entertaining them. Only thing was, from the 2nd night on they were bringing my boys soda because the other kids at the table was having it. And then later on I noticed the soda was free flowing. Myself and the other Mum had noticed this so we asked them to only allow 1 soda per night. So, just beware of how often soda is given with dinner.
I did not get any menus and my memory has failed me, so for this I am sorry. But I do remember having steak, which was lovely.
I think it was during dinner that an announcement was made to inform us we were high tailing it to Villefranche as someone needed urgent medical attention and that we would be there that night. Of course we were not able to get off as we hadn't had clearance by the port authorities and this was a tender port. But it looked beautiful all lit up at night!!



After dinner, our table guests had to run again and so we decided to go get some more pictures done before heading back to our room to change into something more relaxed. The boys of course went to the clubs and we collected them on the way to the show "Twice Charmed". My youngest ran to the front row seats to the left (not the best place to sit, but we stayed). We loved the show and was looking forward to the rest. After the show, we had a little walk with the boys and everyone was marvelling at how beautiful the view was. A lovely cocoa later and we were able to get the boys to bed ready start the next day.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kiki_304/story/15523

OH MY GOODNESS, I JUST READ THIS...IT IS ABOUT ME AND MY NEW HUSBAND!!! It was humbling to read this, and YES, your pictures were MUCH better than the Disney photographer! Love reading your trip report, and again, thanks for coming to our wedding. It was a dream come true, and I felt like a princess at the age of 63!!!

 

[Disney mam]

OH MY GOODNESS, I JUST READ THIS...IT IS ABOUT ME AND MY NEW HUSBAND!!! It was humbling to read this, and YES, your pictures were MUCH better than the Disney photographer! Love reading your trip report, and again, thanks for coming to our wedding. It was a dream come true, and I felt like a princess at the age of 63!!!

My DH said kept calling your groom William Shatner. lol He said he looked like him.

It was wonderful watching the service, we just wanted to come along and show some support.

I think I tried recording the service on my phone (don't know how awful it is), I will have a look to see if I can find it and what it is like.

Congratulations again.

 

[rjk1968]

Dies your husband have a friend called 'Rodney' Congratulations - your little secret is safe with me and every other person that was in the bar that night

 

[Goldeelox9]

Great Trip Report so far!!

 

[clairedy6]

Your boys are so cute! This TR is making me really excited for my med cruise next month thanks so much for posting that pocket size train timetable in Rome, it'll really come in handy!

 

[Disney mam]

Your boys are so cute! This TR is making me really excited for my med cruise next month thanks so much for posting that pocket size train timetable in Rome, it'll really come in handy!

Thanks.

And that pocket timetable really helped me.

 

[Disney mam]

Pirate night



Well, what can I say? It was fab! My boys (including DH) loved it. We went up to deck 10 and overlooked from there. A really good view and we were able to dance for quite some time before others tried to come in and take our spot. You move 1 inch and they would be in there! lol Of course we moved so kids could enjoy it, but the adults could see just fine from behind the kids.
But really, it was awesome!



My youngest loves Peter Pan and wanted to wear his costume. Of course Hook was not happy to see Peter, so they had a moment. lol
Later on at dinner, Peter decided to tip his drink into his lap and had to get changed.












I have some videos from my ds little video cam but have not had a chance to go through them. When I get the time I will see if there is anything good enough to post.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kiki_304/story/15981

 

[debsters41]

Love this update with all the pictures! Thank you for sharing!

 

[MichelleVW]

Our table mates did all the Disney excursions and were totally worn out from running about place to place. They spent very little time in places and were on and off buses. They did enjoy it though, but they just look like they had been run ragged.

Pisa train tickets were 2ad 2 kids and 35euros ic out and 21euros regional back.

Awesome report!! We're going on a Med cruise next summer and I know if I schedule a bunch of excursions my DH will be miserable. I want to take it easy and enjoy myself like you did!

 

[Disney mam]

Awesome report!! We're going on a Med cruise next summer and I know if I schedule a bunch of excursions my DH will be miserable. I want to take it easy and enjoy myself like you did!

Thank you.

Disney do offer transport only into the main areas, but tbh we would rather do it exactly the same way and see the real areas surrounding such magnificent sites. Not always a pretty sight passing through the real urban areas, but you get a good feel for it.

 

[garytam]

Hi

How difficult to navigate the train station in Rome to find the train track back to port. I always want to DIY for Rome due the cost but worry about finding my way back.

Thanks

 

[Disney mam]

Hi

How difficult to navigate the train station in Rome to find the train track back to port. I always want to DIY for Rome due the cost but worry about finding my way back.

Thanks

We found it just fine. I will find you the link of a DIY trains in Rome when I get chance, long work days for next 3 days but I will do it when I get chance.

 

[debsters41]

We found it just fine. I will find you the link of a DIY trains in Rome when I get chance, long work days for next 3 days but I will do it when I get chance.

 

[Scottishsteve]

Thanks for this, we're booked up for the med cruise on the 31/08/13. Our first cruise an we can't wait.

 

[debsters41]

Thanks for this, we're booked up for the med cruise on the 31/08/13. Our first cruise an we can't wait.

Come on over to our cruise meet thread if you want, we are a friendly bunch

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2938576