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

[catjammies]

Can anyone give any more info on these?
What they involve? If they're worth it?
Recommended?

Selinunte involves a trip to the Acropolis -
but is it too dreadfully hot & intense, do you think?

A Day on the Farm -
my daughter is interested in this one -
but is it really worth it?????

 

[momma4v3]

Was this a private tour or one of the DCL excursions? How will we know if one of our booked excursions has been cancelled? I hope those with cancelled DCL excursions get some type of priority for rebooking another excursion!

JeanieP - Thanks for the info about shopping. I agree that it will help to go into it with the thought that shopping is not going to happen. Too bad!

Have a great day everyone!

UMTerp

Disney notified us yesterday that the 2 excursions were cancelled. I do not appear to have any priority in booking new ones. I am having difficulty with the website.

Linda

 

[JeanieP]

Hi everyone!! I encourage all of you to read the blogs, as many of the excursions listed by our group have been discussed in several blogs. Of course, people have different expectations, so I wouldn't cancel or change plans based on one disappointed viewer. But, you may want to take the time to write to those bloggers and thread reports and ask some questions.

With that said, I do recall one of the bloggers stated that the Palermo puppet show was probably not ideal for small children. They stated that one puppet had his head cut off, and another puppet was sliced in two. I'm not joking, although it is hard not to chuckle because I had to write "puppet" and "heat cut off" in the same sentence. That's a new one for me!

I don't know if it was the same blogger or thread report, but someone did attend the Lerici castle and dinosaurs excursion. Sounded a bit disappointed and apparently the craft was difficult and the children were restless.

I think for me, I will continue to read the other trip reports, because excursions can improve with time, and the weather sounded like it was a factor as well. By the way, sounds as if folks loved Marseilles and Ville Franche -- they got little lavendar pouches as the left the boat in Marseilles!

Here are our excursions:

Palermo -- Selinunte and Marinella Beach with DH, DS(4) and DD(6)
Olbia -- Morning excursion to La Cinta Beach with DH, DS(4) and DD(6)
Marseilles -- Castellet and Wine Tasting with DH

On our own:
Rome -- on our own via train with DH
Naples -- on our own to Capri via Hydrofoil (weather permitting) with DH, DS, and DD or local train to Herculaneum archaelogical site
La Spezia -- on our own via local train to Cinque Terre with DH, DS and DD
Ville Franche -- on our own with DH

 

[giggles_32181]

Welcome Ladyvet, We are also coming in a day early and Staying at the same hotel. I am excited that it's across the street from the beach. We can site see if we want or lay around too.

 

[nordkin]

I just spent about 30 minutes updating the excursions on the list of cruisers and just when I hit save changes it crashed. I will get the excursions posted, but it will probably be tomorrow night.

 

[scrapycruiser]

Nordkin...we appreciate you doing that.It will be fun to see what everyone is doing. GINA

BTW...is anyone doing the Timeless Pompeii & Flavors of Sorrento ?

We have a priv guide hired for Pompeii & Amalfi Coast, but am thinking about going with this DCL tour. I am so worried we might get stuck in traffic and miss the ship. We will be there on a Sat in Aug and I know there will be a million people along the coast. I actually read a post on CC where someone DID miss the ship . The cost is about the same. Does anyone have an opinion ?

 

[nordkin]

Nordkin...we appreciate you doing that.It will be fun to see what everyone is doing. GINA

BTW...is anyone doing the Timeless Pompeii & Flavors of Sorrento ?

We have a priv guide hired for Pompeii & Amalfi Coast, but am thinking about going with this DCL tour. I am so worried we might get stuck in traffic and miss the ship. We will be there on a Sat in Aug and I know there will be a million people along the coast. I actually read a post on CC where someone DID miss the ship . The cost is about the same. Does anyone have an opinion ?

We are doing Timeless Pompeii & Flavors of Sorrento. Joi and I have been to both before and loved them. We want to share some our memories with my daughter and mother. We spent a week in Sorrento 20 years ago and had a wonderful time. The coastal road does get very busy and traffic moves slowly, but it is a beautiful drive.

 

[ladyvet]

Nordkin...we appreciate you doing that.It will be fun to see what everyone is doing. GINA

BTW...is anyone doing the Timeless Pompeii & Flavors of Sorrento ?

We have a priv guide hired for Pompeii & Amalfi Coast, but am thinking about going with this DCL tour. I am so worried we might get stuck in traffic and miss the ship. We will be there on a Sat in Aug and I know there will be a million people along the coast. I actually read a post on CC where someone DID miss the ship . The cost is about the same. Does anyone have an opinion ?

Gina,
We are going on the Timeless Pompeii and Flavors of Sorrento excursion. My 9 yr old daughter has just been learning about Mt. Vesuvius, and she's excited to see it in person.
Beth

 

[UMTerp]

I just spent about 30 minutes updating the excursions on the list of cruisers and just when I hit save changes it crashed. I will get the excursions posted, but it will probably be tomorrow night.

Sorry to hear that! Thanks for keeping us all updated!

UMTerp

 

[scrapycruiser]

Just to say, miracles do happen at DCL...they moved us to Main seating.I'm very happy. I made the mistake of choosing 2nd because I thought we'd get back too late for main. We never eat that late at home. GINA

 

[nordkin]

I have updated the list and added the excursions for the couple of people who have recently posted them. I would appreciate it if everyone would post their excursions again if you have already posted them. It is easier for me to look at the recent posts and not have to look through the pages of posts.

I noticed on a few of the earlier cruises people are exchanging small token gifts. Is anyone interested in doing this? I have done it in the past and our family enjoyed coming back to the room to discover a small gift on the fish by the door or in their fish extender. Just a thought and wondering if there was interest.

 

[JeanieP]

Hi Nordkin! Thanks for all of your hard work with the postings. You're the Best!

My family is planning on bringing a little something for the DISers. I have two little ones and I know they will get such tremendous satisfaction running around the ship leaving little trinkets for our DIS friends. But, we are doing this because its our first time as a DISer on a DC, so, we want to enjoy the experience. I certaintly don't want to add to the stress level of all the other DISers on this board or cause someone to rethink their baggage weight restrictions!

By the way, did anyone read the post about the evening the Magic left Barcelona for the first Med Head cruise? The DISer stated that folks waited for the horn to blow and it never happened! Isn't that a signature Disney thing when the ship leaves port? I am soo bummed! Maybe they missed it?

 

[corinnak]

I noticed on a few of the earlier cruises people are exchanging small token gifts. Is anyone interested in doing this? I have done it in the past and our family enjoyed coming back to the room to discover a small gift on the fish by the door or in their fish extender. Just a thought and wondering if there was interest.

What is this "fish extender" of which you speak? Or even the fish by the door? Oh, my first-time-cruiseriness is showing tonight.

What kind of small gifts are we talking about? It sounds like fun, but I don't have any clue of what kinds of things people would leave for that.

 

[ladyvet]

Our excursions:
1: Barcelona: Panoramic drive through Barcelona
2: Palermo: A Day on the Farm
3: Naples: Timeless Pompeii and Flavors of Sorrento
4: Olbia: none
5: Rome: Jumping Back into Eternal Rome
6: Florence: Porto Fino and Santa Margherita
7: Marseilles: City tour
8: Villefranche: Nice and Eze with wine and cheese

We are Category 5 with early seating.

Also......... I was reading a blog I saw on here today from someone on the first cruise. The lady's name was Sally, and now I can't find it. I think I might have seen the link in the trips reports section. Does anyone know what I'm talking about??
Thanks,
Beth

Also, also.... We really wanted to do the chocolate factory in Barcelona. If anyone is thinking of switching from that to something else, will you give me a heads up?

 

[scrapycruiser]

We wanted to do the Chocolate Factory tour also, but DCL said they have cancelled it. We could go one of the 3 days while we're in Barcelona, but we wanted to do the workshop and they have to have a group of at least 15.

After many changes here's my "final answer"....

Bruce, Gina, and Jack ( 11 ) ; Early Seating !!

Palermo........Palermo for Kids
Naples..........Timeless Pompeii and Flavor of Sorrento
Olbia............La Cinta beach
Rome............Private guide
La Spezia......Florence on your Own
Marseille.......Private Guide...St Remy, Les Baux, and ?
Villefrance....sleep in !! Eze via taxi on our own
Sea.............Palo Brunch

What do you use for the fish extender ? . The gifts sound like fun but don't have a clue what to buy ?

Who is going to Palo's and which meal ?? We hope to get a Pal's dinner booked when we get on board.

 

[momma4v3]

I have updated the list and added the excursions for the couple of people who have recently posted them. I would appreciate it if everyone would post their excursions again if you have already posted them. It is easier for me to look at the recent posts and not have to look through the pages of posts.

I noticed on a few of the earlier cruises people are exchanging small token gifts. Is anyone interested in doing this? I have done it in the past and our family enjoyed coming back to the room to discover a small gift on the fish by the door or in their fish extender. Just a thought and wondering if there was interest.

Thanks for doing this,
Our excursions areAll 7 of us are doing these)
Barcelona: Flamenco and Tapas on Aug 8
Montserret - full day on August 7 (Our 14th Anniversary)
Palermo: Village of Cefalu (since our original excursion was cancelled)
Naples: The Hidden Treasures of Herculeum
Olbia: Train to Gallura
Civitavecchia: Ultimate Rome Experience (Our original one was cancelled)
We are thinking about hiring our own tour so this may change.
La Spezia: Florence on your Own
Marseille: Arles & The Olive Oil Mills of Les Baux
Villefrance: Cannes, Grasse and St Paul

Darren and I are having Palo dinner on the 9th(1st sea day)
My in-laws, Fred and Jane are having dinner at Palo on the 17th(2nd sea Day)

Linda

 

[giggles_32181]

Palermo, Sicily Alysoun - Old City and Monreale
Marek and Keli - Mysterious Palermo
Naples, Italy (Pompeii) - Marek and Keli - Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri

Alysoun - Magnificent Naples
Olbia, Sardinia - All -La Cinta Beach - Might change to on our own

Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) -All - Jumping Back Into Eternal Rome

La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa) All - Florence and Pisa
Marseille, France - All - Marseille City Tour

Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice) All - Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese
Palo Dinner at 8pm

 

[2Tinks]

Nordkin, I agree with JeanieP thanks for the all hard work

Our excursions:

Palermo: Palermo for kids with DH-Chuck, DD-Nicole - Late tour
Nalpes: Amalfi Coast Drive and Pompeii - All three
Olbia: La Cinta Beach - All Three - Early Tour
Rome: Visit of the Vactican - All Three
La Spezia: Floernce And Michelangelo with DH
Marseille: Marseille City Tour - All Three - Late Tour
Ville Franche: Nice and Monaco with DH

Hoping Palo's comes available for high tea day at sea

Question for you past DCL cruisers....How do they assign the character breakfast? We're concerned about some early excurison times. Thanks

Elizabeth

 

[momma4v3]

Nordkin, I agree with JeanieP thanks for the all hard work

Our excursions:

Palermo: Palermo for kids with DH-Chuck, DD-Nicole - Late tour
Nalpes: Amalfi Coast Drive and Pompeii - All three
Olbia: La Cinta Beach - All Three - Early Tour
Rome: Visit of the Vactican - All Three
La Spezia: Floernce And Michelangelo with DH
Marseille: Marseille City Tour - All Three - Late Tour
Ville Franche: Nice and Monaco with DH

Hoping Palo's comes available for high tea day at sea

Question for you past DCL cruisers....How do they assign the character breakfast? We're concerned about some early excurison times. Thanks

Elizabeth

Elizabeth,

Character Breakfasts only occur on sea days. If you have early dinner, you will have an early breakfast. You can ask your head server if there are any openings at later breakfast and he/she will try to get you in but there is no guarantee. I have late risers and they changed our time once and were unable the other cruises.

Linda

 

[UMTerp]

Elizabeth,

Character Breakfasts only occur on sea days. If you have early dinner, you will have an early breakfast. You can ask your head server if there are any openings at later breakfast and he/she will try to get you in but there is no guarantee. I have late risers and they changed our time once and were unable the other cruises.

Linda

We will not have enough sea days to fit in all three rotations for character breakfasts on this trip. I do not know what the plans are. Hopefully, we can learn from other 10-night cruisers.

Our excursions:
Naples - Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri for Families
Civitavecchia - Jumping Back into Eternal Rome
La Spezia - Florence and Pisa
Palermo - Mysterious Palermo
Villefranche - Scenic French Riviera
Marseille - Soap and Marseille City
Olbia - La Cinta Beach

Thanks so much nordkin!

I'm worried about space/weight in my luggage so I don't think we will participate in the gift swap.

Have a great weekend everyone!

UMTerp