7/13/13 ~~ Eastern Mediterranean Mouseketeers!

[tinkerbelltwins]

We booked last month while on the Magic NYC--Bahamas cruise. Excited to be going to the Med. We are a family of four

Nicholas
Lori
Matthew (18)
Megan (15)

This will be our 12th Disney cruise--all on the Magic--but our first time in the Med. LOVED the Baltic in 2010!! We are first seating for dinner and room 1039. (First time below deck 3--a little apprehensive but we know that it will be ok.)

'Nut

Welcome Aboard! I have added your information to our Roll Call! Please see Post 4 for good information about other fun activities your family can participate in if interested!

 

[kehonuamemano]

I'm trying so hard to talk my DH into it!! Hopefully they don't sell out before I can convince him

I promised my husband we'd drive and that I wouldn't schedule an excursion, dinner or anything else. Just take it easy and enjoy the ship for the 5 days. Try that on your husband

 

[LovesToRun]

Hi everyone!

Just checking in again... sorry I haven't been very much of a regular here!! I've been super busy. BUT, I'm getting excited that our cruise is now 1 year away. I know as it gets closer, I'll be writing lots more. We have two other trips planned before we head to the Med next summer (Hawaii next month, and Disney Fantasy April next year), so that is another reason I haven't been here as often...

But, right now, we are trying to get our plane tickets booked for Europe next summer. We have miles on British Airways we're going to use to get us all over to Europe and back, so we should soon be able to get the tickets booked!

Is anyone here planning to spend time in Europe before or after the cruise (those of you from the US)? Or, are most of you flying over to Spain just in time for the cruise and then flying home after the cruise? Just wondering what everyone's plans are.

Depending on if we can get the mileage seats for the dates we are hoping, our plan is to fly to London either July 2 or July 3, spend the night in London, and then fly on to Milan, Italy. Then, spend a couple days in Milan, and then go down to Venice for a couple days. And, then fly to Barcelona on July 10 and spend July 10 - 13 in Barcelona. Then, get on the ship. Then, after the cruise, we hope to fly back to London, but this time, spend 4 days or so in London. We have friends who live there, so we want to see them. And, then fly home back to Seattle, so if all our dates work with the plane tickets, then we'll be gone most of July next year.

So, it all depends on if we can get the tickets for these dates/routes with our miles! Fingers crossed! We're pretty flexible... the most important thing is we get to Barcelona in time for the cruise!!! If we can get tickets for the earlier dates to get us extra days in Europe, that will just be a bonus.

What I do know is once we have our plane tickets booked, I'll be able to relax a little more.

I'm so excited!!

Hope you all are enjoying your summer. Still can't believe this time next year we'll all be on the ship in the Med!!

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I am also anxious to get our plane tickets. I cant wait to see the prices/times. Luckily philadelphia is our home airport so we have lots of options, including nonstop to Barcelona although I hate to fly US Airways internationally, but we'll see. We are doing at least 1 day pre-cruise in Barcelona, possibly 2, depending on cost. We are definitely doing 3-4 days post-cruise in Disneyland Paris, again depending on cost and timing of the flight from BCN-Paris, but definitely at least 3 days. DLP is something I've always wanted to do and somehow haven't yet even though I've been to Paris twice. So yes, I definitely feel your excitement and so ready to book those plane tickets!!

 

[LovesToRun]

I am also anxious to get our plane tickets. I cant wait to see the prices/times. Luckily philadelphia is our home airport so we have lots of options, including nonstop to Barcelona although I hate to fly US Airways internationally, but we'll see. We are doing at least 1 day pre-cruise in Barcelona, possibly 2, depending on cost. We are definitely doing 3-4 days post-cruise in Disneyland Paris, again depending on cost and timing of the flight from BCN-Paris, but definitely at least 3 days. DLP is something I've always wanted to do and somehow haven't yet even though I've been to Paris twice. So yes, I definitely feel your excitement and so ready to book those plane tickets!!

Is US Airways the only option for direct to Barcelona from Philly? Hopefully you can view the flight times/prices soon. I think a lot of airlines open their booking windows like 350 days in advanced (not all, though), so it might be you can start to view some of the outbound flight (one way) schedules/prices now (of course, you would only be able to see one-way prices now because they haven't released the inbound flights yet, so viewing the round trip flights now is still not possible, so the one-way prices won't be an accurate way to see the price (since two one-ways are typically more expensive than 1 round trip, but could give you a ballpark idea of the price at least for now).

Well, we officially booked our outbound flights!! So, now it's REALLY official. Since we are using miles, we can book one-ways and it costs no different in miles than booking round trip (ie, two 1-way bookings is the same cost in miles as a round trip), so that is the one benefit to booking with miles.

I'm so excited! We are flying out of Seattle on July 2, arrive in London July 3. We decided that we are going to spend 2 nights in London for our lay-over, and then fly from London to Milan on July 5. We'll spend a couple days in Milan and then a couple days in Venice... then fly to Barcelona.

Now, we just have to wait probably until August to book our flights home, but it's fun knowing we officially have plane tickets to Europe! So, we are fully locked in now.

Can't wait to hear about everyone else's travel plans!

Kathy

ps. I meant to say that Disneyland Paris sounds like so much fun!! We are still trying to figure out if we will even try to do DLP. We need to wait and see when we can get plane tickets home from LHR (London Heathrow) to Seattle after the cruise (we'll fly from Barcelona to LHR). It's the long haul flight that is hard to find mileage seats on, so we have to take whichever dates we can get, typically. But, if we are able to make it so we have 4 or 5 days in London AFTER the cruise, we might look into goign into Paris over night (via the Chunnel) and going to DLP. But, that might be just really expensive and not worth it for such a short time, so we're going to just wait and see. But, DLP sounds like so much fun!! I really hope it works out for you to go!

 

[MrsG]

Can someone please clarify for me how the transfers work? If we book one of the hotels that DCL is using on our own, can we then use the check in service for the cruise at the hotel and the transfers to the port if we request and pay for it? Does anyone know how much it would cost?

We plan buying our plane tickets or driving to Barcelona and booking the hotel ourselves. Have never used a DCL hotel pre-cruise before or the check in service but it seems like it would be easier than lugging everything to the port ourselves.

Just bumping up this question. I'm curious as well.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Is US Airways the only option for direct to Barcelona from Philly? Hopefully you can view the flight times/prices soon. I think a lot of airlines open their booking windows like 350 days in advanced (not all, though), so it might be you can start to view some of the outbound flight (one way) schedules/prices now (of course, you would only be able to see one-way prices now because they haven't released the inbound flights yet, so viewing the round trip flights now is still not possible, so the one-way prices won't be an accurate way to see the price (since two one-ways are typically more expensive than 1 round trip, but could give you a ballpark idea of the price at least for now).

Well, we officially booked our outbound flights!! So, now it's REALLY official. Since we are using miles, we can book one-ways and it costs no different in miles than booking round trip (ie, two 1-way bookings is the same cost in miles as a round trip), so that is the one benefit to booking with miles.

I'm so excited! We are flying out of Seattle on July 2, arrive in London July 3. We decided that we are going to spend 2 nights in London for our lay-over, and then fly from London to Milan on July 5. We'll spend a couple days in Milan and then a couple days in Venice... then fly to Barcelona.

Now, we just have to wait probably until August to book our flights home, but it's fun knowing we officially have plane tickets to Europe! So, we are fully locked in now.

Can't wait to hear about everyone else's travel plans!

Kathy

ps. I meant to say that Disneyland Paris sounds like so much fun!! We are still trying to figure out if we will even try to do DLP. We need to wait and see when we can get plane tickets home from LHR (London Heathrow) to Seattle after the cruise (we'll fly from Barcelona to LHR). It's the long haul flight that is hard to find mileage seats on, so we have to take whichever dates we can get, typically. But, if we are able to make it so we have 4 or 5 days in London AFTER the cruise, we might look into goign into Paris over night (via the Chunnel) and going to DLP. But, that might be just really expensive and not worth it for such a short time, so we're going to just wait and see. But, DLP sounds like so much fun!! I really hope it works out for you to go!

Yes, US Airways is our only option for direct to BCN from PHL. We probably won't be able to view flights until around September 1 since in my experience most airlines, at least the ones in Star Alliance, which I fly most often, don't release dates until 335 days in advance. So we'll have to wait until then to see the price roundtrip from PHL-BCN, and then Paris-PHL for the return.

 

[drlaurafsu]

I spent the last couple of days reading the entire thread...we just booked this week. We can't wait to join you all on the cruise.

This is mine and DH's second cruise...the first being a quick 4 day Bahamas wedding cruise for a friend. It will be DS's first. He has been asking to go on a big ship...so we thought this would be a great option and opportunity to see some of Europe.

It will be me (Laura), DH (Andres) and DS (Mateo, will be 6 at sailing). We live just north of Atlanta. We are on deck 2...not sure which cabin and second seating for dinner. Not sure yet about participation in all the other stuff. I think we are going to be staying a few days after the cruise in Barcelona, possibly meeting up with another family who will be traveling in Europe about that time. Looking forward to seeing DS put some of his spanish skills into action. He goes to a local international school and is in their bilingual immersion program for spanish.

I have already told DH I plan to hike some of Cinque Terre at that stop. I have done the Pisa/Lucca thing before and don't think there is enough time to really see much in Florence so we will likely save it for another trip. DH and DS can do their own thing but I have wanted to do Cinque Terre for a while now and this seems like a great time to do it! Plus I am a pt photographer and think that it will be a blast taking pictures along the way.

Looking forward to learning more about cruising and also planning for this trip from all of you more experienced cruisers! In the meantime I am busy planning a trip to WDW for DS's 6th birthday in October (and a total of 19 people) and a 10th anniversary trip to Paris for DH and I, plus my BFF and her hubs at Christmas.

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Welcome Aboard to Laura, Andres, and Mateo! You have been added to our Roll Call!

 

[drlaurafsu]

Thanks! We booked into the renaissance for the night before the trip using points. Andres wasn't convinced on coming early, especially without a points room available at the Hilton. But finding a Marriott one works too, maybe better so we can save Hilton points for when we get back!

Since Mateo hasn't traveled more than one time zone away...mostly to South America...I wanted him to have a day to adjust! Also purchased some travel books. Plan is to take out just the sections for the trip and bind them together. I prefer actual books to ebooks for travel guides...but ebooks for all other reading.

 

[tajz90]

We have late dining and have always enjoyed it. This will be our fifth cruise and we did the Med in 2010. It's true the port days are long and tiring. I think on some of the longer port times early dinner was pushed back later to give the early diners more time to get back to the ship. We have always liked the late dining as it gives us longer to enjoy the ports and relax for a bit before dinner. I guess it is just a matter of what works for your family!! The Med cruise is exciting and tiring at the same time!! Joan

This is true. They push back 1 st seating during the longer port days. In the past, Med 07 and Baltic, we would board, wash our hands and go straight to dinner. It was easy.

 

[Eleblanc]

We got back from a week visit to Rome a little while back and I said earlier I would give an update on work for the new Line C on the metro. It is open and working, but not completely. About half the line is working now and the rest should be operational later this year. It definitely helps with getting around, but a there is still a good section of the city that is not available on the metro, just buses. None the less, it is still a great city.

We also did a day trip up to Florence and I am hoping that it is just like it was for us when everyone visits next year. Nice sunny day, and NO lines for anything. When we visited on the cruise last year it was a Saturday and the lines were insanely long. I believe the stop is a weekday this year so that should make it a little better.

Somehow it does not seem as crazy to be planning now that are within the one year mark!

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

What has everyone been up to? I'm in the midst of packing for our Alaska Cruise. Kind of hard to look at fleece jackets when it is 90+ degrees here!

 

[kehonuamemano]

What has everyone been up to? I'm in the midst of packing for our Alaska Cruise. Kind of hard to look at fleece jackets when it is 90+ degrees here!

Enjoying our summer here in New England it's so short. Getting ready for our Canada cruise next month. I agree it's hard to think about the chilly weather when it's ninety degrees out.

 

[MrsG]

Just back from 11 days at Aulani! Wow, Disney really outdid themselves with that resort!!!

Now it's time to seriously start our planning for this cruise. First airfare and hotel..............

 

[drlaurafsu]

What has everyone been up to? I'm in the midst of packing for our Alaska Cruise. Kind of hard to look at fleece jackets when it is 90+ degrees here!

Been busy getting ready for back to school (starts Tuesday for DS although many schools around here have already started) and getting ready for DS's birthday trip to Disney coming up in October.

Went to lunch this week with one of our Greek friends and she gave me the scoop on Mykonos. Said to expect it to be REALLY HOT!! So we are thinking our plan for that day will likely be to hit the beach for as long as we can stand it then take DS back to the ship and check him into the kids club. We will likely then head back out to wander around the town a bit. She did say that the port is very close to the town and its very easy to get in and out. So she thought that it wouldn't be a big deal to drop him back on the ship while we went out to explore.

We've talked some about plans for other days. Checked out the excursion lists from previous trips that we found online. So we have a general idea of what we want to try and do while we are there.

I went to Italy in 1999 and got the coolest book. I have no idea what happened to it over the years. It was of the ancient sites in Rome and had overlays to show illustrations of what things would have looked like back in the day. I think it will be great to try and get one of those again for DS. If we can find one for Athens, I'll try and get one too. A co-worker is going to Italy in the Spring so I've asked him to look and for Athens, my Greek friend's mom is here now and will be coming back for a visit in October. I think I'll ask her to try and find one for me. At 6 I think it will be hard for DS to understand a lot of what he is seeing, but I think those books will be helpful for that.

 

[drlaurafsu]

So after I posted that I got to thinking about where the overlay book might be. So I had to go check. AND I FOUND IT!! Yay!! And its still in really good shape. So now just need to get one for Greece!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Just back from an ABD in France (Esprit de France) and had a great time. We're now ready to shift into DCL Med planning. How far in advantage do they release the shore excursions? Has anyone purchased their airfare yet?

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Just back from an ABD in France (Esprit de France) and had a great time. We're now ready to shift into DCL Med planning. How far in advantage do they release the shore excursions? Has anyone purchased their airfare yet?

We haven't bought our airfare yet because its not yet available--fares for us from Philly to Europe should be out by the end of this month, so we are really excited for that. Locking in the airfare always makes it feel so real. We have however booked several private excursions already for Rome, Athens, and Turkey. After we see the airfare and make our decision on how many days pre/post cruise we'll book hotel rooms next since many of them have good advance purchase rates.

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Just back from 11 days at Aulani! Wow, Disney really outdid themselves with that resort!!!

Now it's time to seriously start our planning for this cruise. First airfare and hotel..............

Oh, do tell us about Aulani!