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

[pclare]

Excellent!!! This is going to be so great! This is like traveling with one BIG family! And I agree safety in numbers! One of the cruisers mentions Tendering and that if you are "on your own" I think he said the Buena Vista Theater (will double check) sit at the far right back rows and you are some of the first guests off the boat. Let me see if they answer a question on how long. J

I am very interested in joining you guys for both pompeii and pisa as I just can't seem to find a DCL excursion that fits our whole families needs. The idea of all of us traveling together (even if it is just one way) makes me feel far more confident. There will be 5 or 6 of us in our party including my DD 16, DS 13 and DD 8 who is a certified Pompeii freak and thus our personal guide for that site!!! Please PM me and let me know any details or what I can do to help organize.

Pauline

 

[CruisnParkers]

My brother forwarded me this article today about Naples. Be warned!

I hope they get their act together before August. This has been going on for months! Anyone know if this has affected Pompei or The Amalfi Coast? I would hope that the touristy areas are clean.


7/9/07
ROME (Reuters) - The United States embassy in Rome has warned U.S citizens they may face a health risk in Italy's southern Campania region due to a garbage crisis that has filled streets with piles of rubbish.
"U.S. citizens traveling to or through the area may encounter mounds of garbage, open fires with potentially toxic fumes, and/or sporadic public demonstrations by local residents attempting to block access to dumps," the embassy said in an advisory note.
Since May, streets in Naples and nearby towns have been piled with household waste that has nowhere else to go -- the fault of political mismanagement, conflicting interests and organized crime.
The embassy warned that airborne particles and fumes from these fires could aggravate respiratory problems and the fires could release toxic substances into the air.
Last month the European Commission took legal action against Italy over the thousands of tonnes of uncollected waste, saying it posed serious health and environmental risks through the spread of disease and through pollution of air, water and land.

 

[nordkin]

My brother forwarded me this article today about Naples. Be warned!

I hope they get their act together before August. This has been going on for months! Anyone know if this has affected Pompei or The Amalfi Coast? I would hope that the touristy areas are clean.


7/9/07
ROME (Reuters) - The United States embassy in Rome has warned U.S citizens they may face a health risk in Italy's southern Campania region due to a garbage crisis that has filled streets with piles of rubbish.
"U.S. citizens traveling to or through the area may encounter mounds of garbage, open fires with potentially toxic fumes, and/or sporadic public demonstrations by local residents attempting to block access to dumps," the embassy said in an advisory note.
Since May, streets in Naples and nearby towns have been piled with household waste that has nowhere else to go -- the fault of political mismanagement, conflicting interests and organized crime.
The embassy warned that airborne particles and fumes from these fires could aggravate respiratory problems and the fires could release toxic substances into the air.
Last month the European Commission took legal action against Italy over the thousands of tonnes of uncollected waste, saying it posed serious health and environmental risks through the spread of disease and through pollution of air, water and land.

I heard about this on the news this morning. Europe is famous for their strikes. I am with you in that I hope Pompeii is not affected. I do not plan on spending any time in Naples except to drive through, so hopefully we will miss the major problem area.

 

[dlgrn3]

I have updated all the stateroom assignments I am aware of. The only one without a stateroom number for the gift exchange is astroth. I count 26 staterooms for the gift exchange. Would someone be so kind as to count them as well to double check my number?

Donna

I have a change in 2 of my staterooms. Instead of 2537 and 2539, we will have staterooms 6571 and 7509. (we are still keeping 6585,6587). I decided to go to a cat.11 in exchange for no dancing above my head.

Thanks again for keeping this all organized, I appreciate all your hard work!

 

[Vailcruiser]

I am very interested in joining you guys for both pompeii and pisa as I just can't seem to find a DCL excursion that fits our whole families needs. The idea of all of us traveling together (even if it is just one way) makes me feel far more confident. There will be 5 or 6 of us in our party including my DD 16, DS 13 and DD 8 who is a certified Pompeii freak and thus our personal guide for that site!!! Please PM me and let me know any details or what I can do to help organize.

Pauline

Great news! Glad to have you join our group.

 

[Vailcruiser]

Here is the response I received from "Doing Med ports on your Own" regarding Pisa. They also answered regarding Cinque Terre. Jocelyne


Th ship announcement that morning told us to plan on 45 minutes to get to the tender pier. Some of that time is spent at the Walt Disney Theatre where you have to go to get tender tickets. The ride itself is less than 20 minutes.

Regarding the Cinque Terre, there is another option to taking the train. There is a ferry that goes to Portovenero which is about 100 feet from where the tender arrives. We had hired a tour guide to walk the Cinque Terre with us. For 170 euro, it was well worth it. She spent the entire day with us, and we went to Portovenero, Vernazza and Monterroso. Portovenero, by far, is the loveliest. And it is very simple to reach by ferry. The other ports are reachable by ferry as well, but on the day we visited, the water was rough and they were only going into Portovenero and Monterroso. It's about a 25 minute ride. There is a microphone system and our tour guide got on the loudspeaker and narrated the entire time in English.



Portovenero is incredibly beautiful. It was built in the 1300's and has hardly changed. No cars are permitted. The streets are cobblestone. We visited an olive oil shop that did tastings; the most unique shop I saw in Europe. There is a chapel on the edge of town that is the most requested church for weddings in Europe. There is also a lookout point where Lord Byron was known to sit and write. We ate at a restaurant in Vernazza which was very reasonably priced. We did end up taking the train back to the ship from Monterroso. The tour guide explained that the local trains can be unreliable and in fact, we ended up walking lover's lane, because one of the trains we were to take to get back to the tender was cancelled.

I think this is very doable on your own, if you don't try to do too much. My DD really wanted to see Pisa, and in retrospect, we could have spent the morning in Portovenero and gone to Pisa in the afternoon. We did speak with someone on the ship who did Pisa first thing in the morning, and she said the lines were much shorter in the morning, however.

If you decide to do cinque terre, try to do it in the afternoon. There is an 8:00 am train that you can't make (I was on the first tender and still missed it even by cab it is 10 minutes) and the next train isn't till 10. the ferry doesn't get you there till 11. We wanted to Pisa as well so that didn't work for us and never made it to cinque terre.. Have fun!!

 

[ladyvet]

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned in this thread, but a great movie to watch before you go is "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. It's one of my all-time favorites, and you get to see a little bit of Rome.

My family watched it last weekend, and my 9 yr old daughter was enchanted by Audrey Hepburn. Watch it if you can.

Only a little over three weeks to go!
Beth

 

[miclen]

I know I read somewhere on the Boards some advice about the best place to exchange dollars for Euros, but now I can't find it. It seem like someone was saying AAA members could get a reduced commission fee somewhere. Does anyone remember also reading this? Also just wondering what everyones "stategy" was for exchanging. I wonder if it is better to do it here than waiting to get to Europe? Any thoughts?

 

[UMTerp]

From what I've read, the best exchange rate it to use ATMs in Europe. They are supposed to be readily available. I'm still not sure if we will get some before we go or not. IMO it seems to be too expensive to be worth it.

Good luck!

UMTerp

 

[nordkin]

I know I read somewhere on the Boards some advice about the best place to exchange dollars for Euros, but now I can't find it. It seem like someone was saying AAA members could get a reduced commission fee somewhere. Does anyone remember also reading this? Also just wondering what everyones "stategy" was for exchanging. I wonder if it is better to do it here than waiting to get to Europe? Any thoughts?

This is from the AAA website:

Savings: Members receive a 25% Show Your Card & Save discount on foreign currency service fees at any Travelex retail location (formerly Thomas Cook), anywhere in the world.

 

[miclen]

Thanks Nordkin and UMTerp!

 

[d3boyz]

From what I've read, the best exchange rate it to use ATMs in Europe. They are supposed to be readily available. I'm still not sure if we will get some before we go or not. IMO it seems to be too expensive to be worth it.

Good luck!

UMTerp

It has been my experience also that you get better exchange rates through the ATMs. There are usually MANY in the populated areas. The only thing to watch for is the same as in the states ... know your surroundings and in our case as visitors, ensure you have people you know near you rather than a herd of strangers!

Deb

 

[d3boyz]

Great news! Glad to have you join our group.

I am so excited! So ... are you guys going to get tickets to climb the tower in Pisa? If so, for what time will you reserve? I don't have any idea about how long it will take to get from place to place, and I'm not confident that the folks there will buy any excuse about the bus being late.

On another note, does anyone know specifically where the Magic will berth when we get to Civitavecchia?

Deb

 

[d3boyz]

One of the guys on the repo cruise is REALLY in the spirit! Here's his plan for Pirate Night:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1062787&page=220

(#3287 entry)

Deb

 

[CluelessSanFran]

It has been my experience also that you get better exchange rates through the ATMs. There are usually MANY in the populated areas. The only thing to watch for is the same as in the states ... know your surroundings and in our case as visitors, ensure you have people you know near you rather than a herd of strangers!

Deb

Just exchanged a few bucks at Wells Fargo last Saturday. It was 1 to 1.41 (ouch). We thought it was a good idea to have a few euros prior to the trip but we'll exchange more at the airport like someone had previously suggested.

 

[miclen]

Just exchanged a few bucks at Wells Fargo last Saturday. It was 1 to 1.41 (ouch). We thought it was a good idea to have a few euros prior to the trip but we'll exchange more at the airport like someone had previously suggested.

Wow, 1.41! I guess I just don't understand how the exchange rates work. The internet sayscurrently it is closer to $1.31, so how come different places seem to pick and chose what rate they want to use? Oh well....I guess I won't worry about it and just enjoy this long anticipated vacation!

 

[miclen]

One of the guys on the repo cruise is REALLY in the spirit! Here's his plan for Pirate Night:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1062787&page=220

(#3287 entry)

Deb

WOW! He looks just like Captain Jack!

 

[Vailcruiser]

I am so excited! So ... are you guys going to get tickets to climb the tower in Pisa? If so, for what time will you reserve? I don't have any idea about how long it will take to get from place to place, and I'm not confident that the folks there will buy any excuse about the bus being late.

On another note, does anyone know specifically where the Magic will berth when we get to Civitavecchia?

Deb

Yeah, we are getting so excited too! For us, two weeks from today!!

We will not be climbing the tower, just want the picture outside, but that's just us. The age to climb the tower is 8 and DD is 7.

We have found the best exchange is by ATM or credit card. Also, make sure you have small change - $1, $2 or $2.50 and $5 for alot of time if you do not have exact change they will keep the remainder and say that they do not have change (taxi, bartering).

BTW - thanks everyone for your informative posts. Been meaning to say thanks to UMTerp awhile ago.

 

[2Tinks]

Thanks everyone for all the information regarding where to get Euros or utilizing your ATM to get the better exchange rate.

For those travelers utilizing a credit card on this trip, make sure you contact your credit card company in advance and inform them that you will be traveling in Europe. Credit card companies could block your account if they feel that there could be fraudulant activity, this is a common practice in the industry.

Chuck

 

[UMTerp]

For those travelers utilizing a credit card on this trip, make sure you contact your credit card company in advance and inform them that you will be traveling in Europe. Credit card companies could block your account if they feel that there could be fraudulant activity, this is a common practice in the industry.

Chuck

Thanks for the reminder! I need to start making a list of what I still need to do so I don't forget anything important!

UMTerp