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

[LovesToRun]

That's us. We are the other family of four (DD15 and DD10) And we will be the ones with too much luggage....

Sounds like a plan! I looked up the Palazzo Sant'Angelo on tripadvisor. It gets pretty solid reviews. We're planning on staying 3 nights.

That's great! Yah, I looked on Trip Advisor, too, and I was really happy with the reviews, and was really pleased with their really nice email responses as well as SPEEDY email response. Also, the location is perfect!

We are staying 4 nights, so we'll be arriving a day before you, Cousin Orville.

Wave2, we travel light (2 checked sized suitcases and 2 roller carry-on's, and that is it, for the 4 of us... it might help that we don't have any girls. ), so we won't have too much luggage, so we'll help balance you out with the luggage.

 

[MPS516]

Thank you for making sure that things posted on FB are posted here, as one who is not on FB this makes a big difference. On our recent cruise several things the group arranged had times posted on FB and never got back to DIS so several people missed, it was really a non melded group, rarely visited with each other.

 

[SailingSeas]

I'd like to second that, MPS516. Thank you.

 

[keenercam]

I know this thread and the FB page have been quiet, but I hope everyone is enjoying the thought of planning this trip. I'm sure the anticipation will build as we get closer. I have been keeping an eye on airfare and last week, ours was actually down about $100. I am going to watch closely and see how it trends. There is really only one flight that works for us in each direction, so I don't want to take any chance at all on the flights selling out.

 

[denise]

I keep saying I am going to book the air and then something gets in the way. All we have is the 3 days booked in Venice before the cruise...



guess I should really think about this trip....

 

[keenercam]

Shoot! Airfare is up again! I hope it comes back down.

 

[SailingSeas]

oh my god, Keener, I'm so sorry! That's been a sticking point for you, hasn't it!

Denise, i'm the same way. Almost bought the flights a few weeks back, then did the prenight and then got distracted by work, then... well. Here I am, looking into homing pidgeons to St. Marks or somewhere to get over the rainbow.

 

[Arizona Rita]

We are pulling out of this. I had an emergency surgery and the airfare is just too pricey.
We will be going to Alaska instead.
Safe journeys everyone!

 

[mstee777]

Sorry to hear you are pulling out, Arizona Rita. I hope all went well with your surgery and that you make a quick, full recovery. I'm glad you get to go to Alaska instead.

Since I don't have any other trips planned right now, I am getting more and more excited about this cruise. I'm planning FE gifts (small ones that won't take up a lot of space), thinking about excursions, and reading all the trips reports from the 2013 Med cruises. We are still booked on Disney air, and quite honestly, I have not paid attention to airfare costs. I know Disney is not the most cost effective, but we will probably stick with them because it's convenient.

 

[keenercam]

We are pulling out of this. I had an emergency surgery and the airfare is just too pricey.
We will be going to Alaska instead.
Safe journeys everyone!

I am so sorry to hear that you had to have surgery. I hope you are feeling better. Alaska sounds fabulous!

Since I don't have any other trips planned right now, I am getting more and more excited about this cruise. I'm planning FE gifts (small ones that won't take up a lot of space), thinking about excursions, and reading all the trips reports from the 2013 Med cruises. We are still booked on Disney air, and quite honestly, I have not paid attention to airfare costs. I know Disney is not the most cost effective, but we will probably stick with them because it's convenient.

We are currently on the FE list, but I'm not sure if we will stay on it as the deadline for deciding gets closer. I have been looking at the threads about recent FE gifts and frankly, we just can't participate at that level of creativity or expense. Last time, our FE's took up half a suitcase, but we had DD23 and DS18 with us and we were able to spread the stuff through the suitcases. This time, since it will just be Howard and me, we'd actually need a third suitcase, which we weren't planning on. Hmmm...Plenty of time to decide. Some of it will depend on how many cabins are participating, too.

BTW, I've thought about using Disney air, but knowing how few direct flights there are and how locked in we are to times because of our work schedules, I just can't imagine it working. So, I'll continue to check airfare every few days and hope for another dip.

oh my god, Keener, I'm so sorry! That's been a sticking point for you, hasn't it!

Denise, i'm the same way. Almost bought the flights a few weeks back, then did the prenight and then got distracted by work, then... well. Here I am, looking into homing pidgeons to St. Marks or somewhere to get over the rainbow.

Good luck with finding your flights, too!

 

[mstee777]

I hope you don't pull out of the FE, Keenercam. I'm not super creative either, but it love to participate. I'm thinking that since we all have to travel quite a ways, the gifts should be smaller and not too cumbersome to get home. I hope so anyway. I don't want to pack too heavy for this trip.

 

[keenercam]

I hope you don't pull out of the FE, Keenercam. I'm not super creative either, but it love to participate. I'm thinking that since we all have to travel quite a ways, the gifts should be smaller and not too cumbersome to get home. I hope so anyway. I don't want to pack too heavy for this trip.

I would agree that it seems with people travelling so far, the FE gifts might not be so elaborate. I really loved what I gave last time and am pretty keen on the idea of doing that again because it was so universally well-received. I'm glad I have plenty of time to figure it out and decide.

 

[denise]

thought I would share this article and short one minute video of Sagrada Familia....

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/...opus_comes_to_life_in_a_one_minute_video.html

 

[keenercam]

Sagrada Familia was one of my family's favorite stops while we were in Barcelona before our 2011 10 night DCL Med cruise. The audio tour was really worthwhile and there were so many details we would not have noticed without it. It was well worth the couple hours we spent there. Be sure to go into the basement to see artifacts and drawings regarding the planning and execution of this spectacular landmark.

 

[keenercam]

Re: Fish Extenders

htmlkid - I have a Word document that I created for our last DCL Med Cruise in which I listed the cabin number/location on ship (i.e., 6Aft, 5Forward, etc.), DIS screen name, Family Name (last name), Adults, "Younger Cruisers (ages)". We only had 13 cabins participating in the FE on that cruise, but it was a lot of fun and my chart made it so much easier to keep track of what gifts we were giving and where we had to go to deliver them. Let me know if you'd like to have it.

 

[SailingSeas]

Hi Keener... *cringing as she types this*

I hate to be the bearer of wonky news, but HTML kid hasn't responded in a while, and is all over as the FE Extender coordinator on the 9-night instead:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3064875

I'm not sure if you want to contact them directly to see if they jumped ship...?

 

[MPS516]

How is everyone doing with Airfare ? I keep trying to predict what is going to happen after the holidays while watching the fares go up and down in about the same overall range. Would really like to upgrade to business with points but could fly 2 more people over for what they get. So fly 5 or upgrade 3, looking bad for other 2.

.

 

[SailingSeas]

I'm not planning on getting air until after the holidays, personally. I'm all cash for mine, and watching rates. I think i'd prefer to have our cruise paid off first before getting the air. How are your rates looking?

 

[denise]

I have spent many of the last few nights searching for air...thought I found it, booked one seat and then there were no more....I'm trying to use miles but... what we want is just not there....
Yes I have a headache....

 

[keenercam]

I haven't had any luck either. I thought maybe booking two one-way tickets might be better but the economy class of our return flight shows "sold out" when I try to book a one-way ticket. UGH! Trying not to panic.

Can you all imagine if we were on this Sunday's Magic sailing and just found out today the cruise is cancelled? I can't even imagine how sad and depressed I'd be. I feel so badly for all those passengers.