Med Cruisers...Let's Discuss Planning!(Updated Tour Info, Links & BCN Info on Page 1)

[pxlbarrel]

Last year my wife and I dropped the kids back at the ship after Ephasus and went shopping at the bazaar in Kudasai. The shop owners were aggressive by our standards but I never felt threatened. I let my hair grow to shoulder length for the first time in my life last summer. When we got to the top of the bazaar a barber started shouting at me that I needed a haircut right there and then. I said no and he started chasing me down the street with his scissors and shaving knife. My wife couldn't stop laughing. Really one of my favorite vacation memories ever. But we did pick up some cheap souveniers and a beautiful scarf for my daughter.

hahahahahahahahahahaha... oh, I wish I could have seen that. LOL

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

A tip to get the best price in Turkey.

Haggle on price.

Whatever they offer first, seem disinterested and halve the price they say,

Stick to that price and see what they do,

If they do not reduce by a lot, then start to walk off.

 

[RAD]

Just wondering, what TV channels will be available on board?

 

[lilpooh108]

Hi lilpooh,

Thanks for the links! Very comprehensive.

I've booked the 5N Med cruise departing Barcelona on 11 Aug 2014. I'm not sure if shore excursions are doable with my 5 year old, i'd love to go for the full day ones to see rome/florence but looks like i may only go for short cinque terre tour off the la spezia port. Tempted to just lug the stroller along just to let her sit in when she gets tired but i've read that the light travel friendly strollers do not do so well on cobblestone streets.

We're planning to take it easy and just walk around the little towns where we're docked. Any families here have taken the free and easy route to explore the ports on their own at villefranche, la spezia and civitavecchia?

Thanks,
mel

Hi there!

Wow, I haven't checked back into this thread for a while now

For La Spezia we actually did an "easy" DCL excursion to Portofino & Santa Margherita that was very kid friendly. The town of Portofino had a lot of cobblestones so the stroller was a hassle, but you can easily leave it at the bottom of the hill and I really doubt anyone would take it. The town had probably a few hundred people in it. Santa Margherita was a larger town, and pushing the stroller was easy. My daughters were 4 and 1 at the time and we only brought 1 umbrella stroller between them on this excursion. They rotated when tired and it wasn't a problem. More details in my TR.

For Rome we hired a private van transfer for pick up from the port and the Forum had elevators. It wasn't easy to push the stroller b/c of the cobblestones, but not exactly hard either. Stroller was easy to push inside the Colosseum. No strollers allowed in the Vatican. We hired a private guide, and she took care of taking the stroller outside and picking it up for us after the tour was over.

We skipped Florence since it was such a long van ride to Florence from La Spezia. That was our "easy" day to give the kids a break.

We also brought a cheap $15 Target umbrella stroller that we threw away on our last night in Europe before flying home. This really helped us out since (1) we didn't care much if we ended up losing it/trashing it while touring and (2) decreased our baggage/hassle load when flying home.

Good luck!

 

[lilpooh108]

When we got to the top of the bazaar a barber started shouting at me that I needed a haircut right there and then. I said no and he started chasing me down the street with his scissors and shaving knife. My wife couldn't stop laughing. Really one of my favorite vacation memories ever. But we did pick up some cheap souveniers and a beautiful scarf for my daughter.

 

[MsJiminyCricket]

A tip to get the best price in Turkey. Haggle on price. Whatever they offer first, seem disinterested and halve the price they say, Stick to that price and see what they do, If they do not reduce by a lot, then start to walk off.

Haggling is one of my favorite hobbies.

 

[Baidoo]

It is good news to hear the beach in Villefranche is sandy rather than pebble stones. Does DCL let you take towels off the ship to use on the beach? Can you rent umbrellas? I'm very fair skin and the middle of August will be hot!

 

[nzdisneymom]

It is good news to hear the beach in Villefranche is sandy rather than pebble stones. Does DCL let you take towels off the ship to use on the beach? Can you rent umbrellas? I'm very fair skin and the middle of August will be hot!

Yes, you can take towels but you must bring them back!

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

I hope it's ok to ask here but I haven't bought my airfare yet for August and now I"m stuck. I usually fly United but their prices are out of this world. What airlines are people using? We are flying into Barcelona. Anyone have any recommendations? I don't travel internationally often so my experience is limited to United and Emirates.

Thanks in advance.
A NERVOUS flier

 

[jmedrew]

I hope it's ok to ask here but I haven't bought my airfare yet for August and now I"m stuck. I usually fly United but their prices are out of this world. What airlines are people using? We are flying into Barcelona. Anyone have any recommendations? I don't travel internationally often so my experience is limited to United and Emirates. Thanks in advance. A NERVOUS flier

Have you looked at Lufthansa? We flew them from frankfurt to Barcelona and we are also flying them to Orlando so I know they fly to the states. But they are partners with United...so might be same prices. We also flew UsAirways from germany to the states.

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

Have you looked at Lufthansa? We flew them from frankfurt to Barcelona and we are also flying them to Orlando so I know they fly to the states. But they are partners with United...so might be same prices. We also flew UsAirways from germany to the states.

How did you like US Airways? They are currently the best priced.

 

[carpenta]

How did you like US Airways? They are currently the best priced.

I just flew US Air last week round trip from Philly to Rome- Venice to Philly and they were OK. They provided the service and everything went smooth. The only problem we flew to Rome and there was no T.V.'s on the plane. On the return we flew an Airbus and they had T.V.s. Lufthansa was GREAT when we flew them last year to Prague and return. Best coach yet with great service. They are part of the Star Alliance I believe so you receive the points if you do that.

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

I just flew US Air last week round trip from Philly to Rome- Venice to Philly and they were OK. They provided the service and everything went smooth. The only problem we flew to Rome and there was no T.V.'s on the plane. On the return we flew an Airbus and they had T.V.s. Lufthansa was GREAT when we flew them last year to Prague and return. Best coach yet with great service. They are part of the Star Alliance I believe so you receive the points if you do that.

Thanks for the report. Lufthansa threw me off with having to pay for seat assignments but if you're paying $5,000 what's another $150, right? Thanks again. I really appreciate your time.

 

[Baidoo]

Wish we could help but we are flying British Airways to London to pick up family and then take the train through Paris to Barcelona. I've never flown British Airways to the U.K. before, only Delta and American which were just fine.

I believe you really aren't going to get discounts to Barcelona. Prime season for travel and all the U.S. airlines took a hit this winter with cancelled flights and probably people not traveling as much. They're going to make up for it any way they can.

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

Wish we could help but we are flying British Airways to London to pick up family and then take the train through Paris to Barcelona. I've never flown British Airways to the U.K. before, only Delta and American which were just fine.

I believe you really aren't going to get discounts to Barcelona. Prime season for travel and all the U.S. airlines took a hit this winter with cancelled flights and probably people not traveling as much. They're going to make up for it any way they can.

Thanks. British Airways is actually on my top three of potentials. I know prices are insane but I'm trying to spend less than $1,800 per person.... fingers crossed

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Thanks. British Airways is actually on my top three of potentials. I know prices are insane but I'm trying to spend less than $1,800 per person.... fingers crossed

Have you looked at Turkish Air? You route through Istanbul, so it is a longer trip. However, the prices are closer to $1100 than to $1800 pp.

Are you open to creative routing? If you fly from Dallas to Milan, Italy, the fare is under $1000 on Delta. You can then fly from Milan to Barcelona for about $200 pp. If you do this, I would use it as an opportunity to spend a night or 2 in Milan pre and post cruise.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[Baidoo]

We have a late afternoon train departure and are wondering what is the latest time you can debark the Magic after the cruise in Barcelona?

Thanks.

 

[Celestine]

We have a late afternoon train departure and are wondering what is the latest time you can debark the Magic after the cruise in Barcelona?

Thanks.

We hung it out as long as possible, but I think it was about 9am. You may be able to hang out longer if you are later sitting breakfast.

 

[Saamh]

We have a late afternoon train departure and are wondering what is the latest time you can debark the Magic after the cruise in Barcelona? Thanks.

As the pp said, the ship usually has to be empty by about 9am. You may want to consider booking a transfer to the train station/tour with Barcelona Day Tours. They will pick you up at the port, take you on a tour while they store your luggage securely and then drop you at the train station in time for your train.

 

[lornak]

We did the 11 night Med in 2011. BEST TRIP OF MY LIFE!! I'm so excited for all of you that are planning this cruise!!

I did a pretty lengthy trip report if you are interested in reading another one!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2761025