7/14/2014 - 12-Night Mediterranean Cruise (with Greece) Venice to Barcelona

[poohmomof5]

anyone thought about airlines yet?
I have looked at American and I don't like how we would have to fly into London Heathrow and then out of London Gatwick to get to Venice.
We have airline miles with American and we hope we can use them for the flight.

Since we have to come from the West Coast it will be somewhat harder. Planning on flying out of SFO if it makes it easier..

Any thoughts?

We usually fly out of O'Hare in Chicago. Swiss Air usually has pretty decent flight prices and non stop to Zurich, so I am hoping we will end up going a few days, flying into Zurich and taking the train through the mountains to Venice! I love traveling around Europe via the train!

For our trip in 11 days (not that I am counting), we have to fly through Dublin to Barcelona. Not alot of options to go non stop to BCN for us.

 

[denise]

We usually fly out of O'Hare in Chicago. Swiss Air usually has pretty decent flight prices and non stop to Zurich, so I am hoping we will end up going a few days, flying into Zurich and taking the train through the mountains to Venice! I love traveling around Europe via the train!

For our trip in 11 days (not that I am counting), we have to fly through Dublin to Barcelona. Not alot of options to go non stop to BCN for us.

Thanks...you got me thinking about Swiss...although we can't look out that far the fare seems better than others. And no changing airports in London or New York...or 4 stops...
Bad thing is since we can't look to July I am sure it will be much higher than what I have seen.

Think I will watch Interval and see if there are any trades for places to stay a week before our cruise. We have a couple deposits with them. We like the idea of Zurich!

Also we have Marriott Reward Points and they don't work with American Airlines anymore or even with Swiss. So we can't trade points for airline miles.

I have 'rented' out some DVC and our cruise is completely paid for now!! In one week!! We really don't want to have to rent our remaining points for airfare...but if we need to we will.....

I hate this not knowing what to do and having to wait till that window opens...

have fun on your cruise!

 

[poohmomof5]

Thanks...you got me thinking about Swiss...although we can't look out that far the fare seems better than others. And no changing airports in London or New York...or 4 stops...
Bad thing is since we can't look to July I am sure it will be much higher than what I have seen.

Think I will watch Interval and see if there are any trades for places to stay a week before our cruise. We have a couple deposits with them. We like the idea of Zurich!

Also we have Marriott Reward Points and they don't work with American Airlines anymore or even with Swiss. So we can't trade points for airline miles.

I have 'rented' out some DVC and our cruise is completely paid for now!! In one week!! We really don't want to have to rent our remaining points for airfare...but if we need to we will.....

I hate this not knowing what to do and having to wait till that window opens...

have fun on your cruise!

Thanks, I am getting excited and nervous. So much to do and so little time. We were originally scheduled on teh June 15th cruise, so I am still part of their FAcebook page and they have had SOOOOOO many problems getting to Europe due to the strike in France and people just plain missing their flights. Lots of reports of lost luggage too...but I think that is because of all the flight switching. Lesson to all, try to get to Europe at least a day or 2 ahead of time to give yourself time in case something goes wrong with flights etc.

 

[MPS516]

anyone thought about airlines yet?
I have looked at American and I don't like how we would have to fly into London Heathrow and then out of London Gatwick to get to Venice.
We have airline miles with American and we hope we can use them for the flight.

Since we have to come from the West Coast it will be somewhat harder. Planning on flying out of SFO if it makes it easier..

Any thoughts?

We are pretty much stuck with Delta unless we make multiple stops since 90% of flights from MSP are Delta flights. To Vennice we will go through JFK and straight in, on return we go from BCN to Atlanta then home. Bad news is for points they are indicating only business class for full points, that may change next month when they open booking.

Love the idea of flying into Zurich and taking the train through the mountains to Venice, will begin new rate search.

 

[denise]

hate lost luggage!
When we did the Med in '07 ours was lost for 4+ days...lucky for us we went to Greece for a month before the cruise....but it was near 100 degrees in Athens with only the clothes on our back. Luggage came, all of it, day by day, finally and we were set! It never left JFK! Due to weather all our flights going were cancelled or changed...it was a nightmare to get to Greece...
We stayed at the Marriott in Athens for a week and they were so kind to us. They sent a lady each evening to wash our clothes for us at no charge! They got us toothpaste and brushes and what ever else we needed at no charge also!
They even held our "cruise" luggage while we traveled Greece for three weeks!! Glad we didn't have to lug all that around. We went island hoping and you really only need a swimsuit and something to cover up with...lol

When we went it was before bag restrictions or even paying for luggage. (because of when it was booked!)
We did have problems on Iberia from Athens to Barcelona...they said we had too many carry-ons. We had two each. We spoke to the lady in Greek and she let us go! It was a night mare...

Lots of people had lost luggage on our cruise...they never did get it.

I have always arrived a day before a cruise but now we arrive a few days early. I also mix up the clothes of the three of us...a little in each bag!
Our daughters suitcase arrived a few days before ours and she had all her stuff and we had nothing!

I think we will be stuck with American because we have the miles...just hate their routes....

We will also carry far less than normal so please be prepared to see us in repeated clothes... they will be clean....

 

[denise]

Just told daughter about flying to Zurich and maybe staying there for a few days first. She got so excited! Seems she has "always" wanted to see the Swiss Alps...
She says we can have Swiss chocolate, Swiss cheese and her favorite Swiss Milk!! lol....she was making a joke! We used to buy Swiss Milk and Sam's doesn't carry it anymore so she says we have to go to the Alps to get it. too funny...

 

[poohmomof5]

Just told daughter about flying to Zurich and maybe staying there for a few days first. She got so excited! Seems she has "always" wanted to see the Swiss Alps...
She says we can have Swiss chocolate, Swiss cheese and her favorite Swiss Milk!! lol....she was making a joke! We used to buy Swiss Milk and Sam's doesn't carry it anymore so she says we have to go to the Alps to get it. too funny...

Last time we were there, we simply got on the train and went high into the alps for a few days. No cars allowed!!! It was my personal Heaven on Earth.

 

[MPS516]

Last time we were there, we simply got on the train and went high into the alps for a few days. No cars allowed!!! It was my personal Heaven on Earth.

Ok, y'all have been holding out on us We are going to need some tips on where we should be going up in the Alps for a couple days.

 

[poohmomof5]

Ok, y'all have been holding out on us We are going to need some tips on where we should be going up in the Alps for a couple days.

We did a CRAZY 5 week Europe trip in 2010. My oldest graduated from high school and I figured it was the last time we might be able to do something so awesome with all 7 of us. That was the summer DCL did the Baltic cruise, so we decided that would be perfect. I took the 3 oldest and we traveled around Germany and Switzerland for a week, then my husband brought the younger girls and we met up in Paris. We started in Munich, went to Neuschwanstein castle and swan lake, then to the Passion Play in Oberammergau (only performed one summer every 10 years), then took bus/train combo to Wengen, Switzerland (stayed at the Belvedere hotel, it was perfect). We took the train up to the top of the alps (amazing), went ziplining and sledding! We had a 3 day rail pass, so we just hiked around the area taking different well marked paths and lifts all over. There were friendly cats (one hopped on my back and hiked with me for about 15 minutes), cows with swiss cowbells, sheep with I guess you would say sheepbells, it was truly the most amazing beautiful place on earth. Well, I guess if you like mountains...which I do!

We also spent one day/night in Interlaken, it is such a pretty city!

Then we took the train to Paris, spent a few days there, then the train to London for a few more days, then did the Baltic cruise and then the repo down to Barcelona. It was truly a great trip!

OUr trip this summer is like a continuation of that one as we are starting in Barcelona where we left off!

I have a trip report, I will find it and post it, the only problem is that I kept it up really well for the first few weeks, but ended somewhere around the end of the first cruise.

 

[denise]

In two weeks we rented unough points and have all the cash for the cruise!!! Plus I still have all of 2015 points left. If I had used our points for the cruise all of 2015 would be gone and we would have still needed to buy some from Disney to finish up the reservation!!
Yes we are thrilled!

feeling better today about this airline stuff.

Think American will have our travel time on line this August.

Even though we may have to change planes a few times we will most likely go with them. We want to use miles and we have too many not to use.
Our DD doesn't have enough but I was able to trade United with someone for American..for a fee but still way less than what American would charge for the same amount to purchase...plus I was able to empty her United account which wasn't enough to get anywhere... did it on a site called points.com

It looks like we want to avoid British Airways, their partner, at all costs! The taxes are horrible flying on them when using an award...

Also today my DH and I just each applied for new Citi Bank credit cards. We will each get 40,000 American miles after spending $3,000.00 in the first 3 months. Normally we would never be able to to this but when they come we will each put $3,000 towards our cruise!! I already have all the money for the cruise and just haven't put anything on it but the deposit...there also is no fee for the credit card the first year. You also get one bag free for up to 4 people and 1st boarding! We may cancel our other Citi cards because this one looks better. that site is http://thepointsguy.com/2013/06/top...offers-fairmont-southwest-lufthansa-and-more/

We are checking into flying into other locations besides Venice and just taking a train there. Thanks for the suggestions!

I have never worked with a travel agent but do any of you think they could help me with booking the flights with my miles or is that something they just don't do? I have no idea how they get paid.

 

[SailingSeas]

Denise, most flights are no longer commissionable; they make their money off of booking the tours part of the trip and the flights are an addon. that may be different for international flights, but the lower the price, the lower the commission. They may be more likely to just stop at something that is commissionable, and look no further. Just a thought.

We are going to start looking for flights come this fall; still saving up for ours.

We found very cheap air through Aer Lingus last time; it was $800 a seat, stopping in Dublin. It was rather last minute, but i'd love to find it again, just not wait as long. lol that made me wicked nervous!

 

[denise]

that flight sounds great!

Just woke up to great news from the pointsguy.com

American Airlines is back in a relationship with Marriott as of today!!! What this means is: We can turn Marriott reward points into American Miles. We did this in '07 and got our week at the Marriott in Athens for a certificate and also added miles to our account so we could use an award for our flights!!!

So glad I liked him on Facebook...I don't know when I would have found this out.

So now we will have all the miles we will need...just have to find a somewhat sane flight with not too many stops...

 

[jd99]

At our Father's Day lunch yesterday my family and I talked about this sailing - again. We wanted to book originally but decided we were going to do the five night Med after an extended trip to Greece. My wife is Greek and her entire family (aunts, cousins, etc) are all in Greece. She speaks fluently and we have been there twice and love love love the country and its people. We also attend a Greek Orthodox church (my kids are being raised Orthodox though I didn't convert when we were married). Anyway, I think we will be booking this now, doing a shorter time on my wife's family's island and skipping the days in Athens. Last year we visited Mykonos for two nights but haven't yet been to Santorini, Rhodes or Crete. My wife's cousin's father is from Crete an they have a home there too. So.....hopefully we are going to be officially joining the group soon. Just wanted to say hello!

 

[denise]

At our Father's Day lunch yesterday my family and I talked about this sailing - again. We wanted to book originally but decided we were going to do the five night Med after an extended trip to Greece. My wife is Greek and her entire family (aunts, cousins, etc) are all in Greece. She speaks fluently and we have been there twice and love love love the country and its people. We also attend a Greek Orthodox church (my kids are being raised Orthodox though I didn't convert when we were married). Anyway, I think we will be booking this now, doing a shorter time on my wife's family's island and skipping the days in Athens. Last year we visited Mykonos for two nights but haven't yet been to Santorini, Rhodes or Crete. My wife's cousin's father is from Crete an they have a home there too. So.....hopefully we are going to be officially joining the group soon. Just wanted to say hello!

Hope you do decide to join....it will be nice to have other Greek speaking cruisers!!
My husband, Jimmy, is Greek and I am 1/4 Greek. I converted to Orthodox when we were married. I have been Orthodox now longer than I was Lutheran...
we have one daughter, Eleni...
Husband speaks Greek fluently as this was his first language. I also speak it but just no where as good as him! Daughter understands but doesn't speak it fluently either.

Where are you thinking of going to before the cruise?

We are still trying to figure out what to do for a week or so before the cruise.

My DH has been to most the places we are going to except Santorini..DD and I have not been to any of the ones on this cruise.....we did a month in Greece in '07 before our Disney Med cruise and we went to around 10 or 11 different island but no big ones...it was great! Love the islands....

So I will say Welcome Aboard now in hopes you join us!!!

denise...aka dionysia

 

[jd99]

Hope you do decide to join....it will be nice to have other Greek speaking cruisers!!
My husband, Jimmy, is Greek and I am 1/4 Greek. I converted to Orthodox when we were married. I have been Orthodox now longer than I was Lutheran...
we have one daughter, Eleni...
Husband speaks Greek fluently as this was his first language. I also speak it but just no where as good as him! Daughter understands but doesn't speak it fluently either.

Where are you thinking of going to before the cruise?

We are still trying to figure out what to do for a week or so before the cruise.

My DH has been to most the places we are going to except Santorini..DD and I have not been to any of the ones on this cruise.....we did a month in Greece in '07 before our Disney Med cruise and we went to around 10 or 11 different island but no big ones...it was great! Love the islands....

So I will say Welcome Aboard now in hopes you join us!!!

denise...aka dionysia

My wife's family is from Andros in the Cyclades. It's only a two hour ferry ride from rafina and relatively close to Mykonos. We will probably go after the cruise based on the timing. Got rates from TA late yesterday. Now just need to say "go"

 

[jd99]

We are booked!!!!!!! So excited. It will be me (Jeff), DW Mina, DD15 Elizabeth and DD10 Emily.

 

[denise]

We are booked!!!!!!! So excited. It will be me (Jeff), DW Mina, DD15 Elizabeth and DD10 Emily.

Yahoo....

 

[keenercam]

Welcome aboard, Jeff and familly!!!

 

[SailingSeas]

Welcome Jeff! I think you and I have sailed on a previous itinerary together. you're always a wealth of information and glad to see you are sailing. I'm a Greek American too, weaning myself back to liking Metaxa. lol

 

[poohmomof5]

Hi everyone!

I am hitting freak out mode!

I have 2 days of work left (today is CRAZY busy, tomorrow hopefully not too bad), then my husband drives 6 hours on Friday to pick up our oldest son, I take my youngest to the Brewer game/tailgate party for her cheer gym, and midnight Friday we are done with all obligations until we get on the plane Monday! SOOOO glad we have a whole weekend to pack!

I am getting so excited! I am sure I will check the boards this weekend, so feel free to post any questions you want me to be sure to check out while I am cruising this summer!

We are doing the June 27th 12 night sailing that includes Dubrovnik and Venice!