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

[gydell]

I reserved dinner for the last day (at sea) too. Brunch might be better because I got the 8:30pm time slot, and the next day is an early morning. Hmmm what to do?

I like brunch better! Plus I like the dining room "show" on the last night.

 

[disprincess4ever]

Brunch and dinner are sold out for all the sea days fingers crossed a brunch will open up.

 

[redcoral33]

I booked a one night post cruise at Renaissance Barcelona Hotel on my own because it was ~45% less than thru DCL ($571 per night for a standard room vs $300). I just called to book DCL transport from airport to hotel, but was told that's not offered if I didn't book the hotel stay thru them, even though I will be at the same hotel that they offer transportation for. Is that how it works?

Anyway, wondering if anyone knows if the hotel offers transportation to airport for a fee or it's easy enough to get a taxi at the hotel?

 

[thumpery]

I booked a one night post cruise at Renaissance Barcelona Hotel on my own because it was ~45% less than thru DCL ($571 per night for a standard room vs $300). I just called to book DCL transport from airport to hotel, but was told that's not offered if I didn't book the hotel stay thru them, even though I will be at the same hotel that they offer transportation for. Is that how it works?

Anyway, wondering if anyone knows if the hotel offers transportation to airport for a fee or it's easy enough to get a taxi at the hotel?

We are booked one night post cruise at the Renaissance Barcelona Airport Hotel. Is that the same one you booked? We were just planning on taking a taxi to the hotel. I have read that there are usually many taxis available. We are in no rush to get off the boat and figure we will just get one at the port. As far as getting to the airport the next day, the hotel offers this service. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[redcoral33]

The Renaissance Barcelona hotel I booked is not the one by the airport, it's the one near center of town next to Paseo de Gracia where DCL offers pre and post cruise.

 

[thumpery]

Oops, guess my info didn't help! Hope someone else can.

 

[nzdisneymom]

I booked a one night post cruise at Renaissance Barcelona Hotel on my own because it was ~45% less than thru DCL ($571 per night for a standard room vs $300). I just called to book DCL transport from airport to hotel, but was told that's not offered if I didn't book the hotel stay thru them, even though I will be at the same hotel that they offer transportation for. Is that how it works?

Anyway, wondering if anyone knows if the hotel offers transportation to airport for a fee or it's easy enough to get a taxi at the hotel?

Here is info from their website
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/maps/travel/bcndm-renaissance-barcelona-hotel/

They don't have a shuttle but I am sure that the concierge can help you arrange transportation to the airport. Our TA recommends the renaissance airport hotel but we are staying at the same one you are for our pre and post cruise time so we can explore Barcelona a bit more.

 

[gydell]

Happy Easter!

 

[lisah0711]

Thanks, Gydell! Same to you and all our fellow cruisers! Our tickers are at less than three months.

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

I was talking to the sign language people on the last cruise I was on with them. There is a family who generally goes on the inaugural cruises and that is why they end up on these particular voyages. They told me at the time that they were booked for the June 15 and 29 cruises. So unless that changes, they should be on board.

My DD loves to watch them. We were at Wicked in Orlando a few weeks ago and the the woman we usually see was on the row in front of us. My DD was so excited to see her and they chatted a few minutes. That would be so great if they're on our cruise.

 

[pacurn]

We are doing the beach excursion in Croatia! I have read that the water is so crystal clear, and we are water lovers. Since it's toward the end of the cruise, my family will need some down time. We can relax or be as active as we want for a few hours. A plus is that the excursion still gives a brief guided overview of the Old Town. We are looking forward to it! It is a pebble beach, though. Wonder if I need to pack water shoes or will flip flops be good enough. Another thing to decide.

The beach in Nice was stone/pebbles and I was very happy to have water shoes. Those stones were hot!

 

[nzdisneymom]

The beach in Nice was stone/pebbles and I was very happy to have water shoes. Those stones were hot!

Definitely agree about wanting water shoes for the pebble beaches.

 

[thumpery]

Thanks so much for the input on bringing watershoes! I will be packing them!

 

[rotary2808]

I booked a one night post cruise at Renaissance Barcelona Hotel on my own because it was ~45% less than thru DCL ($571 per night for a standard room vs $300). I just called to book DCL transport from airport to hotel, but was told that's not offered if I didn't book the hotel stay thru them, even though I will be at the same hotel that they offer transportation for. Is that how it works?

Anyway, wondering if anyone knows if the hotel offers transportation to airport for a fee or it's easy enough to get a taxi at the hotel?

That's what they told us in regards to our pre-cruise hotel stay. We're looking at options to book on our own.

 

[poohmomof5]

I booked a one night post cruise at Renaissance Barcelona Hotel on my own because it was ~45% less than thru DCL ($571 per night for a standard room vs $300). I just called to book DCL transport from airport to hotel, but was told that's not offered if I didn't book the hotel stay thru them, even though I will be at the same hotel that they offer transportation for. Is that how it works?

Anyway, wondering if anyone knows if the hotel offers transportation to airport for a fee or it's easy enough to get a taxi at the hotel?

We were able to take a taxi to our hotel when we disembarked our cruise in 2010. However, the line for taxis was about an hour wait. It wasn't bad as long as you didn't have anywhere to be. And when we got to the hotel (Hilton Diagonal Del Mar), the wait for check in was over 2 hours long. Not sure what happened with that, but needless to say, many people were NOT happy, especially the people who were booked with Disney (we booked directly with Hilton). Once we were checked in, we headed up to the rooftop pool and stayed there most of the day. It was a wonderful day, but the morning was well, lots of standing in lines (disembark, customs, taxi line, hotel check in).

The next morning we had an early flight, so we had the hotel call taxis for us, we waited about 5-10 minutes and they took us right to the airport with no troubles whatsoever. IT was super early, I don't remember exactly what time, but it was still dark.

 

[MrsScooby]

We were able to take a taxi to our hotel when we disembarked our cruise in 2010. However, the line for taxis was about an hour wait. It wasn't bad as long as you didn't have anywhere to be. And when we got to the hotel (Hilton Diagonal Del Mar), the wait for check in was over 2 hours long. Not sure what happened with that, but needless to say, many people were NOT happy, especially the people who were booked with Disney (we booked directly with Hilton). Once we were checked in, we headed up to the rooftop pool and stayed there most of the day. It was a wonderful day, but the morning was well, lots of standing in lines (disembark, customs, taxi line, hotel check in).

The next morning we had an early flight, so we had the hotel call taxis for us, we waited about 5-10 minutes and they took us right to the airport with no troubles whatsoever. IT was super early, I don't remember exactly what time, but it was still dark.

Nicole what time were you waiting for the taxi after disembarking?

I just canceled our private transfers from the ship to the airport (the company made some changes that did not sit well with me) and now I am trying to decide if we should go with taxis or not. If it is just a matter of getting off the ship earlier than most others to make sure we get a taxi fast then I would stick with a taxi...but if we are walking off with our luggage as early as possible and still have to wait an hour for a taxi then I am going to look for another transport option.

We have an 11:55 am flight to make and I have heard the drive is about 30 minutes to the airport...and yes have trip insurance in case DCL gets delayed so much that we miss our flight..
But I am thinking that if we aim to be among the first people off the ship we should be ok.

 

[MrsScooby]

Brunch and dinner are sold out for all the sea days fingers crossed a brunch will open up.

I have had problems booking Palo online on previous cruises, but was always able to get something on embarkation day. The only thing that didn't come through was maybe Palo tea and they have discontinued the tea anyway.
Not sure if there will be openings on sea days on embarkation day (this cruise is so busy), but you can get your name on a waitlist and they will call you if someone else cancels...

I reserved dinner for the last day (at sea) too. Brunch might be better because I got the 8:30pm time slot, and the next day is an early morning. Hmmm what to do?

Maybe hold onto the reservation that you have for now until you board and see if you can switch to brunch on embarkation day
Or keep checking the DCL website to see if something opens up?
But brunch with another Diser can be a lot of fun.
But even if that doesn't work out, I know some people just bring a book to read if they are in Palo alone..

 

[MrsScooby]

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter a little late...

My parents were visiting this past weekend so I was a bit tied up with them.
Couldn't talk about this cruise at all as almost no one in my extended family can afford this type of trip.

 

[jel0511]

Nicole what time were you waiting for the taxi after disembarking?

I just canceled our private transfers from the ship to the airport (the company made some changes that did not sit well with me) and now I am trying to decide if we should go with taxis or not. If it is just a matter of getting off the ship earlier than most others to make sure we get a taxi fast then I would stick with a taxi...but if we are walking off with our luggage as early as possible and still have to wait an hour for a taxi then I am going to look for another transport option.

We have an 11:55 am flight to make and I have heard the drive is about 30 minutes to the airport...and yes have trip insurance in case DCL gets delayed so much that we miss our flight..
But I am thinking that if we aim to be among the first people off the ship we should be ok.

In 2010 we also had problems with getting a taxi, waited at least 90 minutes(probably closer to 2 hours)... We had late dining so walked off after we finished breakfast, so probably around 9. Personally after experiencing the problem and knowing that you have 4 people with luggage, I"d find another private company The problem is that with 4 people and luggage you'll be required to take a van taxi (like us) and they aren't as numerous as the regular ones. Even with walking off as soon as you can, you still might have issues.

 

[MrsScooby]

We are less than 3 months to our cruise date now...have I missed talk about fish extenders

Anyone have the most recent number participating?
I want to do this but I also don't want to spend a lot of time delivering FE gifts either. The number of participants on previous cruises went pretty high