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

[denise]

Mykonos on our own most likely. We do know a travel agent there that worked at the Athens Marriott back in 2007...so may look her up.

Malta we are doing the Blue Grotto thing with Disney. Is it worth it????

 

[MPS516]

Hi everyone. I just added this cruise. Well actually 3 as I am doing B2B2B spending 30 nights on the Magic. I am in 2111. I will be giving gifts on the FE list but not expecting gifts since it is so late. I am traveling with my friends Scott and Lynn, Michael and his parents on this cruise. We did the inaugural sailing to Venice last. Year. Loved Venice and the Disney Store there too. Do you have a Facebook group? Can't wait to meet everyone.

I am sure we have some extra and will be looking for your FE.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Malta we are doing the Blue Grotto thing with Disney. Is it worth it????

I thought it well worth it. The Grotto is of course the highlight, but you also visit the fishing village Marsaxlokk known for the painted Maltese fishing boats.

 

[SailingSeas]

Denise, we signed up for the morning Blue Grotto tour (although I don't see any of the excursions we signed up for actually in our itinerary for some odd reason) and I think we're exploring the port on our own afterwards. We are planning on doing the ports on our own, for the most part. Trying to meet relatives in Athens in the afternoon, but do have a morning private tour planned. Doing Mykonos on our own, and a possible car rental in Santorini.

I'm still up in the air because I want to do it all and be everywhere. Heck, we don't even have the hotel confirmed when we land.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Denise, we signed up for the morning Blue Grotto tour (although I don't see any of the excursions we signed up for actually in our itinerary for some odd reason) and I think we're exploring the port on our own afterwards. We are planning on doing the ports on our own, for the most part. Trying to meet relatives in Athens in the afternoon, but do have a morning private tour planned. Doing Mykonos on our own, and a possible car rental in Santorini.

I'm still up in the air because I want to do it all and be everywhere. Heck, we don't even have the hotel confirmed when we land.

At the end of the Blue Grotto tour, they will give you the option of exiting the bus at the top of the hill in Valletta to continue on your own before heading back down to the ship.

 

[SailingSeas]

I like that option, thanks Kevin. That would be one I would take. Then... maybe the donkey on down the hill. LOL

 

[denise]

Denise, we signed up for the morning Blue Grotto tour (although I don't see any of the excursions we signed up for actually in our itinerary for some odd reason) and I think we're exploring the port on our own afterwards. We are planning on doing the ports on our own, for the most part. Trying to meet relatives in Athens in the afternoon, but do have a morning private tour planned. Doing Mykonos on our own, and a possible car rental in Santorini.

I'm still up in the air because I want to do it all and be everywhere. Heck, we don't even have the hotel confirmed when we land.

Try booking it again...I booked the Santorini one and then it was gone and had to do it again! Also put in all our flight stuff yesterday, saved it, moved to next thing and the flight stuff was gone...!!

Relatives supposed to meet us in Athens too but last time we were there they wanted us to get our own transportation to their house! When we said no they came and got us took us to there house and had a big dinner for us. Then they took us to the train to get back on our own! The train was done for the night so they called a taxi....wonder what they would do if we did that when they come here next month....

Rhodes on our own and found where you can do a walking tour on the walls and it is on the day we are there!

Crete we have friends who said they will come get us and do Knossos. But someone on FB just posted about the village where Disney's Moon Spinner was filmed and I love Haley Mills...so thinking about doing our own thing and head to that area on our own. The hotel has the book that Walt Disney signed when they stayed in the hotel while filming the movie!!

Now I want to Google movies made in Greece and see what else we can do!!!

you better get that hotel or you will be sleeping on the streets!

Our Greek Festival is this weekend...OPA!

 

[SailingSeas]

Denise, no worries! The kids have already looked up crime rates and the safest parks around so we are golden. Plus, the weather is going to be great, and everyone is going to be up all night with the World Cup festivities, and my daughter things she can find a cute Italian boy out for a stroll...

So, I booked us at the Hotel Papadopoli. Now onto finding a place in Barcelona that's next door to a convent or something.

Denise, was it you I had this Movies in Greece conversation early on? I'm in the same boat as you (harr harr) and love them. I've already found:

Mama Mia (of course), The Big Blue (BEAUTIFUl movie!!), For Your Eyes Only (gawrsh, Meteora is awesome), Never On Sunday (my dad LOVED that movie), one of the Bourne movies, Zorba the Greek, one of the Tomb Raiders, and my absolute favorite, Shirley Valentine.

I know there are more - Greece is just too great a location. I can't wait to take photos!

 

[MPS516]

Ok all you regulars, thoughts on taking the Vaporetto or Alilaguna from the airport. The choices are just under one-half the cost of a private taxi and stops only 2 bridges (looks like 5 buildings) from the hotel. A taxi would take us to the hotels private dock. While not afraid of riding a bus (water) always nervous about having the proper payment when boarding, are they fare cards, cash, pass or just what.

.

 

[MPS516]

Is it worth doing a "skip the line" organized walking tour While we have mapped out a few routes with the places we do not want to miss, the promotional material from the organized tours has us wondering if Doge's and San Marco Church lines are as long as they portray. Is there value to being with a walking tour group once inside, better info ?

Last week for travel plans then on to packing planning

 

[MPS516]

Boy aren't I busy this morning. Sounds like Brent is our cruise director, he is great. You may recall him if I mentioned he is the male with the British accent (guess just normal for some of you). You may have seen him on Disney video releases being interviewed about what a Cruise Director does.

Has anyone heard who the Captain will be ? Thord perhaps ?

 

[SailingSeas]

I'm glad Brent is confirmed too, and I owe him a drink now. Dangit!

As for private taxi or Alliguna, what I did was do a Street Maps view of the walkway from where we would be dropped off. We are at a hotel with smooth surfaces and one bridge from Roma, and will most likely land bus or Alilaguna over to Piazalle Roma. These links may help walk you through making a decision:

VCE to Venice: http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice_airport_boat.htm - instructions and pricing for taking the boat from VCE.

Touring Venice: http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-tourist-travel-cards.htm

We'll wait until we get to the airport and decide if we're taking the bus over, or the water taxi over to Piazalle Roma. It is $1EU more to buy there, but the fares are not too bad.

We'll get a 12 hour tourist travel card for each of us. The cards are so much cheaper than getting single fares. There are instructions on that site, along with photos, to help walk through the process of boarding.

I found the street view maps to be really helpful in getting my visual bearings. Maybe Denise won't have to come wandering the streets looking for me when I get lost.

 

[FranciJo]

Just found out about this board and joined tonight. Wife and two sons (8 & 3). Spending a couple days in Venice and then Barcelona / Madrid visiting friends. We're a military family stationed in the Netherlands; so we don't have too far to travel. We're really excited about the trip. Sent a request to join the FB page as well. Thanks and looking forward to meeting everyone!

Hi! We are also planning to travel to Madrid after the cruise to visit friends. Have you figured out your travel plans yet? We were looking at the train, but airfare is almost as inexpensive. Just wondering if you had planned anything yet!

 

[njandfamily]

Hi we're joining you all for this great cruise. We've never been on a cruise so I've been reading all of your tips thus far. Have we missed the fish extender exchange, I've only just discovered that thanks to Pinterest.

Thanks for your help and any cruising tips greatly appreciated.

 

[Lynn G]

Hi we're joining you all for this great cruise. We've never been on a cruise so I've been reading all of your tips thus far. Have we missed the fish extender exchange, I've only just discovered that thanks to Pinterest.

Thanks for your help and any cruising tips greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the group!

 

[corbett744]

Hi! We are also planning to travel to Madrid after the cruise to visit friends. Have you figured out your travel plans yet? We were looking at the train, but airfare is almost as inexpensive. Just wondering if you had planned anything yet!

we went to Madrid 23 years ago. We stayed at the Hotel Europa. Basic, but with a great location. Would definitely use them again. They had a cafe on the 1st floor and we had breakfast there each day. We also used the Rick Steves book about Madrid and did the walking tour. And the hop on, hop off bus. Worked our well. There was a live theater near the square that was performing Carmen. We just got in line, bought tickets and had great seats. A great experience.

 

[eemaxx]

Thoughts/ questions about Athens:
My group is a party of 9 (2 families: 4 adults, 5 kids, ages 11,9,7,6,3). We wanted to book the Explore Athens On Your Own port adventure, thinking that would allow us the most flexibility to see the sites we wanted to see, but also allowing us the option to have lunch, take a break, etc if we needed it. However, that port adventure only has 3 spots left. The friendly man I talked to when I called Disney said that I could keep checking back but that he didn't know if spots would open up or not as it depends on people canceling.

Questions about Athens: Has anyone taken the City Sightseeing hop on/hop off bus in Athens before? Is it convenient and would it be easy/comfortable with kids? I've read that it can be very hot if you're on the top level in the blazing sun. Also, the buses are supposed to come around every 30 minutes. Is that truly the case or have you found yourself waiting a long time for the buses? How/ where do you buy the bus tickets?

Questions on the Port of Piraeus: Are there any shops/ restaurants right at/ near the port? I've done a Google maps search and it's hard to really tell.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/ suggestions for seeing the sites in Athens!

 

[LyndaC]

Eemaxx, I was just researching options for touring Athens yesterday, in the end, I ended up staying with a more expansive DCL tour. But here's what I found for the Athens Hop on Hop off
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...Sightseeing_Athens-Athens_Attica.html#REVIEWS

let me say that I've done HO/HO buses in the past and they've been great, however, the last one we did was in Malta, and it was beyond disappointing. Reading these reviews, ie stops close together, sitting at one spot for 10 minutes, driving in circles, made me look for another alternative. We are doing the sightseeing and culinary tour instead.

 

[corbett744]

we went to Madrid 23 years ago. We stayed at the Hotel Europa. Basic, but with a great location. Would definitely use them again. They had a cafe on the 1st floor and we had breakfast there each day. We also used the Rick Steves book about Madrid and did the walking tour. And the hop on, hop off bus. Worked our well. There was a live theater near the square that was performing Carmen. We just got in line, bought tickets and had great seats. A great experience.

Hmmm. Should have read my own post. We went to Madrid 2 Years ago. Rest of the message is correct. Cindi

 

[MPS516]

We have done HOHO in Spain and Italy, maybe with 4 adults the 5 kids would be manageable. You know kids, they don't get hot they burn, plan on being up top. Our experience has always been you don't wait too long for busses but on weekends they are pretty full and finding seats other than lower back gets difficult. We would do them again but I can't speak to how easy it is to get your kids on and off and not being the first running up the stairs.