June 27, 2013 - Magic in the Med (Venice)

[elm95376]

Our flight home leaves at 10:45, but we're flying home on the 10th. Our last Med cruise we choose to stay that day as well, since we didn't want to rush to the airport right after a 10 night cruise. It was the BEST decision, really made the last day less stressful. We need 2 rooms as we're 4, but IMO it's $400 well spent.

Thank you for your information. It helped me decide not to take a 10am flight out on the day we disembark. It sounds like we will be staying one night post cruise also.

Janet...

 

[elm95376]

Just throwing this out there to see who else is interested...

On our Baltic cruise in 2010, we found it was easier to deal with jetlag the first day pre-cruise when we had DIS friends to meet up with for dinner...

Just so much easier to stay awake when you have others to chat about plans

So the day before the cruise we hope to see the Sagrada Familia at least, maybe some shopping, anything else low key and close by and an early dinner (well early by European standards).

Anyone else interested???
My kids will be 19 (DS-Andrew, gamer fanatic) and 16 (DD-Kelly, guitar, softball and animae fanatic) so would be great if they could meet up with others the same age before the cruise.

Sounds like a good idea. I don't know for sure yet which day we will get there, either the 25th or 26th. It will be myself and a good friend along with my 2 daughters in their 30's and my 2 granddaughters who will be 10 and almost 16.

Janet...

 

[nzdisneymom]

We have always enjoyed meeting DIS friends pre-cruise... you all should definitely plan to do it - we always meet up with whoever else is staying at the same hotel and then if others are nearby, we try to gather for quick hello. Especially if you're there a day or two before because it's a great time to exchange tips about the city.

Ok, so we can finally book our airfare - but today it's $1,444 - I'm going to watch it for a while and see how it settles - we are pretty sure we'll just do air on our own now and then do DCL hotel for pre- and post-cruises and DCL transportation. The air savings will cover most of the hotel nights over what DCL is charging for air. Now to just watch it and grab it at the right time. I'll watch not only for price but for availability of seats. If it starts filling up, we'll go ahead and buy. I have to figure out which credit card will be the best to buy them with and see if any of the ones we have offer travel insurance that would cover our tickets so we don't have to get separate... hhhmmm...

 

[poison ivy]

Wanted to drop in and say hello! We are tentatiively booked on this cruise.
Really hoping to pull it all together over the next several months.

Our group consists of myself and my DH (johnny quest here on the Dis!) Our son Mark (age 23) may join us depending on his schedule. (provided the DVC lets us add him to an 11C gty - which I have no experience with)

We're planning to fly non-stop r/t out of Phila via Usair on the same flights as Jel0511. So it'll be great to travel with fellow disers!

I have reserved the Renaissance Barcelona Hotel on my own for our precruise stay but am thinking about switching to the Hilton (which is the other DCL sponsored hotel) given its' proximity to the port. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Also it looks like the flight home is too early for debarkation day so I welcome any suggestions for post cruise as well.

looking forward to planning with everyone!

 

[carpenta]

Wanted to drop in and say hello! We are tentatiively booked on this cruise.
Really hoping to pull it all together over the next several months.

Our group consists of myself and my DH (johnny quest here on the Dis!) Our son Mark (age 23) may join us depending on his schedule. (provided the DVC lets us add him to an 11C gty - which I have no experience with)

We're planning to fly non-stop r/t out of Phila via Usair on the same flights as Jel0511. So it'll be great to travel with fellow disers!

I have reserved the Renaissance Barcelona Hotel on my own for our precruise stay but am thinking about switching to the Hilton (which is the other DCL sponsored hotel) given its' proximity to the port. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Also it looks like the flight home is too early fordebarkation day so I welcome any suggestions for post cruise as well.

looking forward to planning with everyone!

We stayed in the Hilton Diagonal and it is a little ways from the cruise ship dock. It is about 3 subway stops away from the downtown Barcelona.

 

[poison ivy]

We stayed in the Hilton Diagonal and it is a little ways from the cruise ship dock. It is about 3 subway stops away from the downtown Barcelona.

How was your stay? We're trying to compare the Hilton vs Renaissance.
Given we only have one day, which is the better choice?

 

[tajz90]

How was your stay? We're trying to compare the Hilton vs Renaissance.
Given we only have one day, which is the better choice?

We stayed at the Hilton In 07 and it's a nice hotel, but I thought it was too far from the action. We are staying at the Renaissance in 2013.

 

[coraljoy]

I'm new to this site, but am super excited that my family of four will be cruising next June! This will be the first disney cruise for my two sons: 11 and 9. The second for my husband and I.

I have been reading about fish extenders...I would love to do this on this cruise...how do I go about doing that?

I can't wait to read up on this site...!

Super excited Mom,

Coral

 

[poison ivy]

We stayed at the Hilton In 07 and it's a nice hotel, but I thought it was too far from the action. We are staying at the Renaissance in 2013.

We're first time visitors to Europe and really appreciate all the advise on this thread. Having travelled to Barcelona in the past, any suggestions on what was considered a highlight vs what traps to avoid?

Also, what is the best route for touring to/from the Renaissance?

 

[thumpery]

Doing the happy dance today! I just purchased our air tickets! It now feels totally official - WE ARE GOING ON A MED. CRUISE!

We are flying in early for the Adventures By Disney precruise add-on, and due to flight times, we are having to fly back home on July 10th. I am trying to decide which hotel to stay at. There is a Renaissance Barcelona Airport hotel that looks really nice and offers a free shuttle to the airport. I am able to get a 2 bedroom suite that would fit my family of four w/food for less than the other Renaissance. However, I will need to find transportation to the hotel from the port. Do you think there will be lots of taxis at the port? Any suggestions?

 

[jel0511]

Doing the happy dance today! I just purchased our air tickets! It now feels totally official - WE ARE GOING ON A MED. CRUISE!

We are flying in early for the Adventures By Disney precruise add-on, and due to flight times, we are having to fly back home on July 10th. I am trying to decide which hotel to stay at. There is a Renaissance Barcelona Airport hotel that looks really nice and offers a free shuttle to the airport. I am able to get a 2 bedroom suite that would fit my family of four w/food for less than the other Renaissance. However, I will need to find transportation to the hotel from the port. Do you think there will be lots of taxis at the port? Any suggestions?

DO NOT rely on the taxis at the port. There are DEFINITELY not enough of them. We waited over an hour for one 2 years ago... The line just got longer behind us. This time we are staying at the Renaissance that DCL is using to take DCL transfers there. Your options are stay at a DCL hotel to use their transfers or book private transfers IMO.

 

[gydell]

DO NOT rely on the taxis at the port. There are DEFINITELY not enough of them. We waited over an hour for one 2 years ago... The line just got longer behind us. This time we are staying at the Renaissance that DCL is using to take DCL transfers there. Your options are stay at a DCL hotel to use their transfers or book private transfers IMO.

We had no problem getting a taxi.

 

[lisah0711]

It's so fun to read about everyone getting to book airfare now.

I have a question for you experienced cruisers who cruise on DVC points. I have the Travelex insurance for my points and the cash part of our trip. My question is do you get travel insurance for the airfare part through the airline or is there some other travel insurance I should be looking into?

Thanks in advance for any help.

And BTW we are staying at the Renaissance pre-cruise, too, and it looks like we will be on the Philly to BCN flight but still figuring that one out.

 

[tajz90]

It's so fun to read about everyone getting to book airfare now.

I have a question for you experienced cruisers who cruise on DVC points. I have the Travelex insurance for my points and the cash part of our trip. My question is do you get travel insurance for the airfare part through the airline or is there some other travel insurance I should be looking into?

Thanks in advance for any help.

And BTW we are staying at the Renaissance pre-cruise, too, and it looks like we will be on the Philly to BCN flight but still figuring that one out.

My travelex always included the price of the airfare. You could easily but the insurance that the airline offers.

 

[coraljoy]

Doing the happy dance today! I just purchased our air tickets! It now feels totally official - WE ARE GOING ON A MED. CRUISE!

We are flying in early for the Adventures By Disney precruise add-on, and due to flight times, we are having to fly back home on July 10th. I am trying to decide which hotel to stay at. There is a Renaissance Barcelona Airport hotel that looks really nice and offers a free shuttle to the airport. I am able to get a 2 bedroom suite that would fit my family of four w/food for less than the other Renaissance. However, I will need to find transportation to the hotel from the port. Do you think there will be lots of taxis at the port? Any suggestions?

I see you live in upstate ny. We do too. Just curious where are you flying out of?

Thanks for your help!

 

[thumpery]

I see you live in upstate ny. We do too. Just curious where are you flying out of?

Thanks for your help!

Hi Coraljoy! We are flying out of Rochester on Usairways through Philly. DCL wanted close to 1700.00/pp. So, I figured $1100.00 wasn't bad. I believe I read that this is your first time flying to Europe; it is ours too.

Where are you located?

 

[coraljoy]

Hi Coraljoy! We are flying out of Rochester on Usairways through Philly. DCL wanted close to 1700.00/pp. So, I figured $1100.00 wasn't bad. I believe I read that this is your first time flying to Europe; it is ours too.

Where are you located?

We live near Poughkeepsie, NY. I grew up in Alfred, NY and my sister in law lives in Rochester.

I can't wait for this trip. My two boys 11 and 9 don't know about it yet! My husband and I have been looking for airline tickets...can't wait to have that behind us!

 

[gydell]

My two boys 11 and 9

My 11yo grandson will also be with us.

 

[coraljoy]

My 11yo grandson will also be with us.

Fantastic! It's going to be such a great trip for us all!

 

[gotomu212]

Hi All. I'm sorry to say that we'll be jumping ship (pun intended) and won't be joining everyone next summer. We moved over to NCL. We were doing B2B with the Greece and with NCL we could do a Greek and W Med from Venice for half the price of DCL and upgraded into a balcony and the ports are a little better fit for our B2B needs.

Happy sailing to everyone, and if you see NCL in the same port I hope the Capt will blow the Mickey horn so we'll have a taste of Disney!