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

[d3boyz]

All,
I am now also worried about the heat. I really wish my sons hadn't broken their disney fan / spray bottles. Anyone have any idea where I can get more? It would be nice if they were Disney.

After reading your post, I went looking around my house since I should have 3 of those things. Well, I found one and a half. The half is the Disney spray bottle minus the fan that clips on the top of the sprayer. I'm still searching for tha part as well as the OTHER one!

I'll just be content with the one since I'd be the one to carry it anyway!

Deb

 

[Vailcruiser]

My boss just flew direct from NH to Las Vegas and SW lost her luggage All her business attire arrived, however, no casual clothes for the Grand Canyon. I have also read other Med DCL blogs of lost luggage. My older DD lost her bags in England at Christmas and did not get them for over a month. I tend to pack a suitcase or two per person. Everyone has mentioned to scatter each persons clothes amongst all the suitcases. It's looking pretty chaotic with a pair of socks here and there.... but hopefully if they loose one bag, it won't be terrible. Don't ask me to find anything when we unpack

 

[JeanieP]

ALthough this isn't helpful, any Walgreen's in the Orlando, FL area (we lived in Orlando for 7 years) keeps the spray bottles with fans in stock, and most do come with Disney designs. Also, Walgreen's in general stock the bottle/fans, but I think only the ORlando Walgreen's carries the Disney version. I have also found the water fans at Walmarts and Targets - basic design, no Disney. They average around $12 -$15, usually in sporting goods section. I would venture to guess that they will sell these on the ship for an arm and a leg....

 

[CruisnParkers]

Welcome MVAN!

I think we're on the same flight - USAirways out of Philly, direct, on Aug 6?

 

[scrapycruiser]

Welcome MVAN!

I think we're on the same flight - USAirways out of Philly, direct, on Aug 6?

We'll just miss you guys ! We're flying out of PHL on US AIRWAYS on Sat Aug 4 ! Not long now !!!!!!!! GINA

 

[sharonrs50]

After reading your post, I went looking around my house since I should have 3 of those things. Well, I found one and a half. The half is the Disney spray bottle minus the fan that clips on the top of the sprayer. I'm still searching for tha part as well as the OTHER one!

I'll just be content with the one since I'd be the one to carry it anyway!

Deb

We obtained little battery powered portable fans at a Bed Bath & Beyond near us in California. You might not want to have a spray fan, as water might be frowned upon in museums and churches.

Sharon

 

[UMTerp]

Thanks for all of the great info everyone! I'll add a few tips. We found small fans on a cord/lanyard at Walmart for about $2-3. Don't know how well they work but we are going to try two of them. We pack one set of clothes per day per person in a large zip lock bag. I divide everyone's zip lock bags and put equal amounts in each suitcase. So as long as they don't loose all of our suitcases we should be at least partially OK (except for maybe formal clothes/shoes). I will be doing laundry in the sink and hanging in the shower also. I'm going to pack a few plastic hangers for drip drying some things. No laundry fights for us!

Donna - my mom used to have a place in West Ocean City! Enjoy!

UMTerp

 

[JeanieP]

Hi everyone! I highly recommend reading the thread entitled "June 27, 2007 MedCruise" by Doingitagain on the Trip Report threads. This is a 10 day cruise, like ours, and she is very descriptive in her excursion posts. They did several DCL excursions, so it may be worth your time to read her descriptions. I found her description regarding where to sit on the excursion buses very interesting -- right down to which seats have cupholders!

In Marseilles, she opted to do this port on her own, and did take the Little Train to the cathedral on top of the hill. Lots of folks, by the way, have explained how easy it is to do the Little Train on your own. I wonder how crowded the Cathedral will be when we arrive, considering it is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and supposedly the entire town will be out and about celebrating. Anyway, she gives a great description of how to find the Little Train after the free Disney shuttle drops off in town. Sounds like a five minute walk, at the most.

Also, if anyone is doing VilleFranche on their own, I did locate the soap shop in VilleFranche. I'll post the information later when I finally have my blog report ready to go. Please note that VilleFranche also has a nice sandy beach if anyone needs a day off to relax from all of the sightseeing.

 

[Vailcruiser]

Hi everyone! I highly recommend reading the thread entitled "June 27, 2007 MedCruise" by Doingitagain on the Trip Report threads. This is a 10 day cruise, like ours, and she is very descriptive in her excursion posts. They did several DCL excursions, so it may be worth your time to read her descriptions. I found her description regarding where to sit on the excursion buses very interesting -- right down to which seats have cupholders!

In Marseilles, she opted to do this port on her own, and did take the Little Train to the cathedral on top of the hill. Lots of folks, by the way, have explained how easy it is to do the Little Train on your own. I wonder how crowded the Cathedral will be when we arrive, considering it is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and supposedly the entire town will be out and about celebrating. Anyway, she gives a great description of how to find the Little Train after the free Disney shuttle drops off in town. Sounds like a five minute walk, at the most.

Also, if anyone is doing VilleFranche on their own, I did locate the soap shop in VilleFranche. I'll post the information later when I finally have my blog report ready to go. Please note that VilleFranche also has a nice sandy beach if anyone needs a day off to relax from all of the sightseeing.

Too funny, I was just reading the exact same entry! Just e-mailed ICON tours back to confirm their Rome tour and am canceling DCL. They gave me that final comfort level to take the train to Rome on our own and also confirm our earlier thoughts on canceling our DCL Pompeii and going on our own. I also printed down her description on Marseilles.

So you are going to blog - how cool!

Has anyone mentioned movies on the boat - hoping the new Dis movie Ratitoullie (?sp) is playing! Maybe even High School Musical 2 for the kids too on Aug 17!

UMTerp - love your idea on ziplock baggies of outfits!!

Three weeks for us and we will be boarding the plane!

 

[scrapycruiser]

Hi everyone! I highly recommend reading the thread entitled "June 27, 2007 MedCruise" by Doingitagain on the Trip Report threads. This is a 10 day cruise, like ours, and she is very descriptive in her excursion posts. They did several DCL excursions, so it may be worth your time to read her descriptions. I found her description regarding where to sit on the excursion buses very interesting -- right down to which seats have cupholders!

I have enjoyed the 27 June blog...best so far! And I,also ,took note about the bus seats. The only tour that concerns me ,as far as bus seats,is Florence on Your Own.It's such a long ride. Sitting in the back of the bus makes me sick .Hopefully we can board early.


Also, if anyone is doing VilleFranche on their own, I did locate the soap shop in VilleFranche. I'll post the information later when I finally have my blog report ready to go. Please note that VilleFranche also has a nice sandy beach if anyone needs a day off to relax from all of the sightseeing.

I'd love to hear about the soap shop.We will be doing this day on our own.I think we'll be ready for a break, and the beach + Old Town Nice sounds nice !

Too funny, I was just reading the exact same entry! Just e-mailed ICON tours back to confirm their Rome tour and am canceling DCL. They gave me that final comfort level to take the train to Rome on our own and also confirm our earlier thoughts on canceling our DCL Pompeii and going on our own. I also printed down her description on Marseilles.

You're really going to be glad you did this ! We lived in Japan for 3 years, and it was not difficult to get around. Someone was always there to help.

So you are going to blog - how cool!

That's great...maybe one day I'll learn how !

Has anyone mentioned movies on the boat - hoping the new Dis movie Ratitoullie (?sp) is playing! Maybe even High School Musical 2 for the kids too on Aug 17!

Yes ! I have to see that rat movie !! I'm waiting and hoping it'll be on the ship !

UMTerp - love your idea on ziplock baggies of outfits!!

ME TOO !!!

GINA

 

[scrapycruiser]

ATTN : CHECK YOUR CABIN ASSIGNMENTS !! Ours was listed on our res info on DCL site. 6630...haven't even looked it up, hope it's not across from the laundry room !!! GINA

 

[d3boyz]

ATTN : CHECK YOUR CABIN ASSIGNMENTS !! Ours was listed on our res info on DCL site. 6630...haven't even looked it up, hope it's not across from the laundry room !!! GINA

Does anyone know where the laundry rooms are located? I'm fairly sure I read SOMEwhere that there are three, and I think I remember that one was on deck 6 and one on deck 7. Can't remember the details about the other one (if there IS one). But more specifically, does anyone know near which cabin numbers these facilities are?

Also for sending OUT laundry (I've had my nose broken twice ... I don't want to go for Magic #3!), does anyone know the costs?

Thanks!
Deb

 

[nordkin]

We also received our assignments and I am not very happy. We are on 2040 and 2042 and they are listed as noisy rooms. I called to attempt to get them changed and they said they could not. We are under Rockin D Bar and I am not looking forward to the noise when we are trying to sleep at night. I can not stand bass, so this shoudl be interesting.

Donna

 

[UMTerp]

Congrats on getting stateroom assignments!!! Sorry Donna - we posted at the same time.

I had to laugh about everyone reading the same trip report! I have been reading everything! I've printed so much I can probably compile a book! Too funny! I love all of the reports and blogs!

Have a great weekend everyone!

UMTerp

 

[d3boyz]

We also received our assignments and I am not very happy. We are on 2040 and 2042 and they are listed as noisy rooms. I called to attempt to get them changed and they said they could not. We are under Rockin D Bar and I am not looking forward to the noise when we are trying to sleep at night. I can not stand bass, so this shoudl be interesting.

Donna

The last time we cruised, we were under the deck for the sail-away party and EVERY other party there was! There wasn't BASS, per se, but there sure was a lot of jumping, thumping, and bumping ... MANY hours of the day and night! THAT was not cool. I don't hear well, but there are some tones I hear, and I can most certainly tell when there are vibrations shaking things up! I'm hoping our rooms this time are sandwiched somewhere else ...

Donna, do you have earplugs? There are these 'marshmallow' ones you can get from Best Buy (got them for an iPod) and they fit any shaped ear really well. NO sound gets through them. Well, at least from MY perspective! I have also witnessed kids wearing these while they drive and they don't notice that I am behind them (trying to move them over) with a siren and air horn blaring at their backsides, either.

Deb

 

[JamesF408]

We recently received a letter in the mail from our travel agent stating one of our excursions has been slightly changed, because of complaints from previous cruisers.

Bottom line is, I'm glad we are the last cruisers to go on the maiden voyage to the med. Hopefully all the kinks have been worked out.

Anyone else receive anything like this for their excursions?

We will be leaving 1 month to the day!!!!!

 

[scrapycruiser]

We also received our assignments and I am not very happy. We are on 2040 and 2042 and they are listed as noisy rooms. I called to attempt to get them changed and they said they could not. We are under Rockin D Bar and I am not looking forward to the noise when we are trying to sleep at night. I can not stand bass, so this shoudl be interesting.

Donna

Donna...I really wouldn't worry too much. Being in the Med and on such a port intensive cruise, I have a feeling that Rockin D won't be as lively as in the Caribbean !! But I would get those ear plugs. I plan to use them on the plane. GINA

James...which excursion was changed ?

 

[Belle2002]

Hi Belle 2002! I believe there were some bloggers on the first Med Cruise who did successfully visit Monreale on their own. Also, if you go to TripAdvisor, I believe someone posted bus information. You can also go to the Palermo tourism website and look at the bus schedule. There is definetly a public bus that takes you to Monreale from Palermo, although it sounded as if you do make one bus change at the bottom of the hill to Monreale. Also, I did read on TripAdvisor that the public buses to Monreale and Mondello beach do have local pickpockets -- they aren't dangerous, but supposedly they will snatch your wallet if you don't keep your stuff in a safe place. Monreale was recently named the most beautiful cathedral in all of Europe, and I would love to see it, but I don't think our family will have time this trip. So, if you do get to see it (oh, and I also read to pay the extra Euro to get into the cloisters), please take lots of pictures for the rest of us to enjoy!! Good luck!!

Hi JeanieP,

Thanks for all the info on Monreale, you certainly seem to be "in the know"! It's very much appreciated. We're still trying to figure things out, but hopefully we'll get there one way or another. Thanks again!

 

[scrapycruiser]

Does anyone know where the laundry rooms are located? I'm fairly sure I read SOMEwhere that there are three, and I think I remember that one was on deck 6 and one on deck 7. Can't remember the details about the other one (if there IS one). But more specifically, does anyone know near which cabin numbers these facilities are?

Also for sending OUT laundry (I've had my nose broken twice ... I don't want to go for Magic #3!), does anyone know the costs?

Thanks!
Deb

Deb...Dry Cleaning...Suit: 7.00
Pants 4.25
Shirt 3.50
Skirt 4.50
Evening Dress 8.00

Laundry........Shirts 3.00
Pants 3.50
Socks 1.00
Undershirts/bras 1.25
PJ 4.00
Undershorts 1.25
T Shirts 2.50
Short Pants 2.50


Reg Service....next day 5pm
Same day......add 50% to charge.Picked up by 9am, back by 5pm



pressing only...50% of dry cleaning charge

Hope this helps GINA

 

[JeanieP]

Hi Giggles,

I looked at the list of cruisers and I think you and I are neighbors on the cruise! How fun! We'll have to be extra sneaky when we drop off our gift...