08/08/07 Well, Olbia Monkey's Uncle! We're cruisin' on the 10nt Med Cruise!

[giggles_32181]

I really hope there is a pirates night. I love it. Everyone gets to dress up and pretent. It is just so much fun. I bought a new parrot to sit on my shoulder this time for my costume.

 

[bellelinus]

I really hope there is a pirates night. I love it. Everyone gets to dress up and pretent. It is just so much fun. I bought a new parrot to sit on my shoulder this time for my costume.

Now that will be worth seeing! Originally I think people were told there wouldn't be pirate's night, but recently I think DCL has said that there will be (Villefranche night, maybe?). . .

 

[nordkin]

This is a quiet thread. I lurk a lot and have finally finalized all our travel plans. We are arriving Aug 5 and staying at the Hilton and flying out on the 18th. We have been to all the Italian ports and will enjoy showing my mother and our daughter the sites. We have not been to the ports in France so we are looking forward to exploring those.

 

[bellelinus]

This is a quiet thread. I lurk a lot and have finally finalized all our travel plans. We are arriving Aug 5 and staying at the Hilton and flying out on the 18th. We have been to all the Italian ports and will enjoy showing my mother and our daughter the sites. We have not been to the ports in France so we are looking forward to exploring those.

This is a very quiet thread . . . lurking is fine (I did it without registering for years) but join in whenever you want. Are you doing DCL excursions or on your own, or a mix?

 

[UMTerp]

Hello everyone. I haven't posted in a while either. Still kind of overwhelmed with the excursion choices since we haven't been to Europe before.

I've been reading my book on Sardinia. It appears that transportation may be an issue if we go it alone. The roads are very bad and the traffic can also be very bad. There are some buses but they seem infrequent. The trains seem to be unreliable. I'm hoping that some of the earlier cruisers will be successful in doing this port on their own and posting some info for the rest of us! The beaches look beautiful so I think we are going to try to get to one of those.

UMTerp

 

[bellelinus]

Hello everyone. I haven't posted in a while either. Still kind of overwhelmed with the excursion choices since we haven't been to Europe before.

I've been reading my book on Sardinia. It appears that transportation may be an issue if we go it alone. The roads are very bad and the traffic can also be very bad. There are some buses but they seem infrequent. The trains seem to be unreliable. I'm hoping that some of the earlier cruisers will be successful in doing this port on their own and posting some info for the rest of us! The beaches look beautiful so I think we are going to try to get to one of those.

UMTerp

DCL's site says there will be taxis at the port at Olbia . . . I plan to pick a beach nearby and negotiate with a taxi to drop us off and pick us up later. As you said, we will also have the experience of the earlier cruisers to work on. I want the Sardinia day to be our big beach day, though . . .

 

[jrabbit]

Hey! This is the 7th post in 2 days - must be a record for our thread

I know some of us (Bellelinus ) have been busy posting on the Med Excursion thread.

As for my family we're going to "do" all of the ports on our own - DCL's prices are way to steep for my wallet. This is our first trip to Europe and our first DCL cruise where we will be going it "alone". Well not alone alone, we will be taking Rick Steves (or at least his books) with us - along with Frommers books.

In Palermo we're going to try and hit some of the greek ruins and or the Cathedral in Monreall (or however it's spelled )
Napes - train to Pompeii, back to Naples for some Pizza
Olbia - looking like a beach day on our own
Rome - We have some independent tours arranged
La Speza - Pisa and possibly Cinque Terra
Marselles - Avingon
Villefrance - Monaco and Beach

I keep reading about the great train system in Europe, so we are planning on taking advantage of it in: Naples, Rome, Pisa and both stops in France. Wish us luck!!

 

[bellelinus]

Hey! This is the 7th post in 2 days - must be a record for our thread

I know some of us (Bellelinus ) have been busy posting on the Med Excursion thread.

As for my family we're going to "do" all of the ports on our own - DCL's prices are way to steep for my wallet. This is our first trip to Europe and our first DCL cruise where we will be going it "alone". Well not alone alone, we will be taking Rick Steves (or at least his books) with us - along with Frommers books.

In Palermo we're going to try and hit some of the greek ruins and or the Cathedral in Monreall (or however it's spelled )
Napes - train to Pompeii, back to Naples for some Pizza
Olbia - looking like a beach day on our own
Rome - We have some independent tours arranged
La Speza - Pisa and possibly Cinque Terra
Marselles - Avingon
Villefrance - Monaco and Beach

I keep reading about the great train system in Europe, so we are planning on taking advantage of it in: Naples, Rome, Pisa and both stops in France. Wish us luck!!

Hi jrabbit -- I think we will be seeing each other on the train in Naples, Rome, and perhaps Monaco (although we might do the bus) . . . and in the train station in Marseilles (we're going to Arles instead of Avignon) . . . should be great fun!

 

[scrapycruiser]

Nordkin...I see you are staying at the Hilton in Barcelona prior to the cruise !! So are we !! My husband, 12 yo Grandson and myself are flying US Air from Phil (some of my family live near Philly ) to Barcelona Aug 4. I think it's the 5th when we arrive.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's plans.We are definetly planning to go to the beach in Olbia, and maybe Palermo. We have priv guides for Rome (Romecabs..Stefano ), Florence (Papillion Tours ),Naples ( Tour of Italy ) and Marceilles (Provence Tours). In Villefrance we'll take the bus to St Paul and Nice.In Barcelona, it'll be easy to get around on our own. And we sure want to take the train to Monserrat .

Has anyone rcv'd their packet from DCL ? We haven't .

What dining seating does everyone have ?

 

[bellelinus]

Nordkin...I see you are staying at the Hilton in Barcelona prior to the cruise !! So are we !! My husband, 12 yo Grandson and myself are flying US Air from Phil (some of my family live near Philly ) to Barcelona Aug 4. I think it's the 5th when we arrive.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's plans.We are definetly planning to go to the beach in Olbia, and maybe Palermo. We have priv guides for Rome (Romecabs..Stefano ), Florence (Papillion Tours ),Naples ( Tour of Italy ) and Marceilles (Provence Tours). In Villefrance we'll take the bus to St Paul and Nice.In Barcelona, it'll be easy to get around on our own. And we sure want to take the train to Monserrat .

Has anyone rcv'd their packet from DCL ? We haven't .

What dining seating does everyone have ?

No packet yet. . . the people on the cruise right before us have received them this week, so I would think in about 10 days or so we might get ours.
We have late seating, so that we don't have to rush in from ports . . .

 

[UMTerp]

scrapycruiser - If you don't mind telling us, how do your private tours compare pricewise to DCL ones? We have early dining but I figure that we may miss it a few times. I guess we'll just eat at Topsiders if that happens. We've never done that but it will work out OK.

jrabbit - Do you mind sharing your tour company?

Can't wait to get our packet! It will make it seem more real.

Have a great day!

UMTerp

 

[scrapycruiser]

UMTerp...These are our private guides :

NAPLES : Tour of Italy, Giovanni , 350 E + 100 E ( Pompeii guide)
2 hr tour of Pompeii, Sorrento,Positano if there's time.

We will be there on a Sat so I would expect alot of
locals...heavy traffic. If it looks bad we might leave
Sorrento and go back to Naples and see the museum
that has alot of relics from Pompeii also see the veil of
Christ. I'd love to see more of the Amalfi Coast but
have heard of people missing the ship

ROME : Romecabs...the "famous" Stefano ! 450 E + fee for
Colisseum

My Grandson,12 yrs, really wants to see the Colisseum
We will see St Peter's ,but have decided not to see
the Vatican museum or Sistene Chapel this time.We will
go to all the other places. But heard it would be too
much to try and see everything. Esp in the Aug heat

FLORENCE: Papillon Tours...Lina 540 E

Academia ( David ), Duomo, Baptistry doors, La Croce
church, the market, Piazza Michaelangelo, maybe the
Ponte Vecchio bridge, leather school

Marceilles: Provence Tours....Tania 400E

not sure...def want to go to Les Baux, then maybe
Aix and/or St Remy ???

If you would like to join us on any of these tours, let me know and I'll contact the guides to see if that's ok, and if there's an increase in price ( surely not ! LOL !! Anyway, I'm sure Jack (our Grandson ) would enjoy your son's company. And splitting it 2 ways would be cheaper...perhaps cheaper than DCL's tours. Any questions, just email me . GINA MCGRORY

 

[scrapycruiser]

Do any of you fellow cruisers know anything about the beaches in Sardinia ? I can't find any info ? Also, what does everyone think about the Palermo tours ?

 

[bellelinus]

Do any of you fellow cruisers know anything about the beaches in Sardinia ? I can't find any info ? Also, what does everyone think about the Palermo tours ?

North of Olbia is the Costa Smeralda, with lots of beaches -- Petra Ruja is supposed to be not too crowded, even in August, and could be reached by taxi hired at the port. Cala Sabina actually seems to be accessible from the train station in Olbia-supposedly when you get off the train you are only a few meters from a pretty white sand beach.

 

[scrapycruiser]

Thanks, Julie, I'll put that in my file ! BTW, has anyone on our sailing rcv'd the DCL packet ? Does it say when we call to make our shore res & Palo ? OR,are we uppose to email that info ??

 

[bellelinus]

Thanks, Julie, I'll put that in my file ! BTW, has anyone on our sailing rcv'd the DCL packet ? Does it say when we call to make our shore res & Palo ? OR,are we uppose to email that info ??

Since the people on the Med cruise just before us got their packets last week, I would guess that we will get ours later this week or early the following week. I believe it will tell us in the cover letter for the excursion book what the date is to book Palo and excursions online . . .

 

[scrapycruiser]

142 days and counting

 

[UMTerp]

Hello everyone!

Been offline for a while planning/having DD's birthday party!

scrapycruiser - Thank you so much for all of the information about your tours. I'll let you know about joining in! Thanks! My DS is looking forward to meeting your DGS!

I still need to get serious with my planning!

Can't wait to get my packet!

UMTerp

 

[nordkin]

I feel wonderful as I paid the last payment and am now paid in full for the cruise. We have switched to the Grand Marina Hotel from the Hilton and will be spending 4 days in Barcelona prior to the cruise.

We are doing the Disney excursions because my mother will be with us and we think it will be much easier for her. Two of us have spent quite a bitof time in Italy in the past and we are looking forward to showing my mother and our daughter what we loved so much in Sorrento, Rome, and Florence.

 

[scrapycruiser]

Nordkin...if I may ask, why did you switch hotels ? We're staying at the Hilton