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

[SailingSeas]

Found a really cool webcam from Hotel American of a canal in Venice. http://www.hotelamerican.it/en/webcam.php?pagina=webcam&lang=en

 

[SailingSeas]

PSA to make sure if you are ordering beer mug packages, cases of water, wine packages, Rainforest day passes, or photo packages, to get them in. They have to be ordered outside of 48 hours.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/gifts-and-amenities/

15 days left!

 

[MPS516]

Hi,

I apologize for being so tardy with this group, I am just so new to this system. We booked this trip pretty last minute but we are so excited about this new journey and want to make it super special for our kids. We love the idea of swaps/FE's as our children love giving as much as receiving. They get so excited about dropping gifts off at other's doors around halloween. We call them "Boo's" This will be another form of this excitement for them. I now have quite the list going with people who can still include us post May 15th but would like to give to you as well. Is there anyway someone could post the list for us to use for our own giving? You do not have to add us to the list.

If you don't get it through PM or posted here in a couple days send me a note and I will get the info from DD and send to you

We are in room 2528 for those who have responded. We have myself and my husband, daughter 8 and son 5.

Thanks we will use the info to add to the bottom of our delivery route


For some reason, I have to post 10 times before I can PM people? This seems weird to me.

Someone already mentioned this, but just make a few more quick posts, hi or this is number 6,7,8, and soon you will have the 10 necessary


Anyway, all of the advice on excursions, cruising with kids, reservations at ports etc. has all been wonderful. I really appreciate your technological gifts and ability to help the rest of us navigate. I've been reading, and reading, and reading. This is our first trip to Europe, and first cruise.

How fantastic to have a first cruise being DCL and on one of there best itineraries


We are really looking forward to meeting people from around the world!! Such a delight. Thank you to those including the non facebookers. It is really nice to have one place to gather information. We are definitely social people who would love to join in on the fun!

There are several of us who are not Facebookers on this cruise so hopefully those who came here to get a link to FB are still connected with DIS

We will be in Venice the day before and Barcelona a few nights after. YAY!!

Which hotel are you staying at ? Cam is also keeping up a roll call and there are people staying at the same places or near each other who are arranging shared water taxi's to the port

We are almost there - 2 weeks and we are on the plane

.

 

[JGteach]

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We are staying at NH Palazzo Barocci. I actually booked that place because it seemed like it has easy access to transportation. This being my first time in Venice, I would be grateful for any transportation advice. Thank you.

I am also looking for any recommendations for Barcelona. We just want to be close to the attractions.

 

[JGteach]

Found a really cool webcam from Hotel American of a canal in Venice.

That is awesome! Thank you!!

 

[JGteach]

PSA to make sure if you are ordering beer mug packages, cases of water, wine packages, Rainforest day passes, or photo packages, to get them in. They have to be ordered outside of 48 hours.

What do you recommend getting ahead of time? Are the photo packages worth it?

 

[SailingSeas]

PSA to make sure if you are ordering beer mug packages, cases of water, wine packages, Rainforest day passes, or photo packages, to get them in. They have to be ordered outside of 48 hours.

What do you recommend getting ahead of time? Are the photo packages worth it?

I guess that depends... I highly recommend the photographers taking your photos on the ship, and posing for family photos with any background you like. If you don't want to pay for photos at all, you can have the Cast Member accompanying them (usually at character meet and greets, but not at the sittings) take your photo with your camera, but they are often untrained.

Photos on the ship are printed at 8X10 and cost $19.95 each. If you have kids, I do recommend the digital photo package with unlimited downloads for the long cruises - the photographers are everywhere, even when you can't be, and for some reason, every kid picture is absolutely wonderful.

For a tip, if you don't want the photo package, but you do like the photo, you can ask Shutters to reprint the photo at a smaller size (easier to pack too) and it's about half the cost ($13 for a 6x8; I don't know how much the 4x5's are at this time, or if they still offer them.) I will most likely just ask for smaller reprints for our shots, and maybe a 10-shot digital photo package on the ship, if I can convince my kids to take them with me. You can also wait and decide later on, if you want to get a photo package or not - you can also enter to win one on the day of embarkation, just stop by Shutters.

As a side note, definitely have a family photo taken. They are *awesome.* Even if it's the only photo you buy. We usually try and match outfits (I know, sounds corny, but it focuses on your expressions) and go barefoot (nothing screams Vacation! and I think they make you go shoeless on the backgrounds.)

...sorry, I kinda rambled there. I shoot a ton and am never in them.

We also get a case of water on overseas trips. We always bring our own in Port Canaveral, but there is no way in hell I'm lugging a case with me in Venice. Yeah, i know it's expensive, but someone will deliver it to my room. if someone has another suggestion, I would love to hear it.

And I'm in love with the Rainforest Passes, so I am a rather biased individual. It's getting a little shop-worn in that room, but I still love the overall experience. I wish I could get a week long pass, but it's a bit too expensive for me. Couples passes are around $360 for a longer stay, and $200 for a single pass. A day pass per person is around $16 when purchased in advance.

We are still using our $14.95 Beer Mug package from one of our first cruises (we are platinum; you can keep the card from cruise to cruise) but usually forgo the wine package (we don't drink enough, and the past two times we've ordered them, I've brought wine home with me. Nice souvenir, but I have a tendency to break things.

Teach, I have a funny story - I've been watching another webcam for days before realizing their "live" shot hasn't moved. I was waiting to see the Magic leave port yesterday and saw nothing. I was laughing so hard. http://www.hoteldanieliview.com

 

[SailingSeas]

I posted this on Facebook, but wanted to be sure everyone here sees it too:

For those interested in a private Mixology class-- DCL got back to my travel agent in response to my inquiry. They can do it as long as we have 25 people, and we can have up to 40. Once you sign up there is no refund of the $15/person charge, which will be charged to your shipboard account. I don't know yet what date and time they will give us, but we can make a request.

What do you think of Wednesday, July 16 or Wednesday, July 23?

PLEASE RESPOND HERE ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOT RESPONDED ON FACEBOOK, SO THAT I CAN GET AN ACCURATE IDEA OF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE INTERESTED

Keener, I don't know how I missed this post, but I'm going to blame you for distracting me for some kind of planning excitement or another anyways but i wanted to say we would be interested in the afternoon of 7/16. would be kind of neat to meet others on the ship early in the cruise, since we are not going to dinner in Venice. I think we have a Palo brunch that morning booked, so that may conflict. Just let us know if there are space for 2 and what time pretty please?

 

[keenercam]

Keener, I don't know how I missed this post, but I'm going to blame you for distracting me for some kind of planning excitement or another anyways but i wanted to say we would be interested in the afternoon of 7/16. would be kind of neat to meet others on the ship early in the cruise, since we are not going to dinner in Venice. I think we have a Palo brunch that morning booked, so that may conflict. Just let us know if there are space for 2 and what time pretty please?

I am waiting to hear back from DCL as to whether and when they can do a private Mixology class for us and whether and when they can do a chocolate & wine pairing/tasting. Since I believe this has to be coordinated between my travel agent, DCL stateside office and the castmember on the ship who handles these things, it is taking a bit of time to get a response back. As soon as I hear anything, I will post the details and it will be first-come/first-booked for how ever many people they permit. Keep an eye open here, since from the responses so far, it looks like we are way over the number of people they can accommodate for the private Mixology class.

 

[JGteach]

Thank you sailing seas. This is all very helpful!! Any view whether it's real or not gets me super excited!!
I was debating on buying wine from Venice or not. Not knowing prices etc, but saw a few wine tasting shops in Venice that looked interesting.

 

[keenercam]

LAST CALL FOR DIRECTORY INCLUSION!

If you'd like to be in the directory and have not yet sent your information, please send me the following by private message here, or by email to keenercam at aol dot com

adult cruiser names
younger cruiser names and ages
DISBoards user name
where you are from
arrival date to Venice
Venice hotel
your email address
any other information you want to share

I only disseminate it to the people who are in it. If you'd rather I not include your email address, please tell me. Many people have already used the directory to get their kids/teens/college-aged travelers in touch with each other and to coordinate tours and water taxi service airport to hotel or hotel to port.

I will only circulate the directory one more time, probably this Sunday. I need any additions to it as soon as possible.


Also, it's not too late to join the Facebook group. There is a lot of good information there and everyone is so nice!

FACEBOOK GROUP

 

[JGteach]

ok, I think this is my 10th post lol. hopefully I can get PMs. While the directory sounds great, I am more interested in the FE list.

 

[jd99]

PSA to make sure if you are ordering beer mug packages, cases of water, wine packages, Rainforest day passes, or photo packages, to get them in. They have to be ordered outside of 48 hours.

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/gifts-and-amenities/

15 days left!

But water, wine & Beer don't have to be pre-ordered - you can do that after you board just like when in Port Canaveral - or has something changed since our last Med cruise 3 years ago....

 

[JGteach]

I am booking a tour through George's taxi and they are not true guides and don't walk with you through the actual sites. Does anyone know if this matters or not? Has anyone had it with or without?

 

[SailingSeas]

But water, wine & Beer don't have to be pre-ordered - you can do that after you board just like when in Port Canaveral - or has something changed since our last Med cruise 3 years ago....

Nope, doesn't have to be preordered, but you avoid the tip and the incessant sales pitch roaming around the ship.

Teach, we use the Rick Steves free audio guides when we go solo. Their Acropolis one is pretty entertaining, and the directions are very clear. We also usually try listening to it in advance, since my kids will tell you I am prone to getting "Squirrelitis" and getting lost. Don't listen to them though. it's not true.

 

[keenercam]

Nope, doesn't have to be preordered, but you avoid the tip and the incessant sales pitch roaming around the ship.

Teach, we use the Rick Steves free audio guides when we go solo. Their Acropolis one is pretty entertaining, and the directions are very clear. We also usually try listening to it in advance, since my kids will tell you I am prone to getting "Squirrelitis" and getting lost. Don't listen to them though. it's not true.

Unfortunately, you don't avoid the tip if you pre-order. They added tax and tip to my pre-ordered items.

 

[JGteach]

Nope, doesn't have to be preordered, but you avoid the tip and the incessant sales pitch roaming around the ship. Teach, we use the Rick Steves free audio guides when we go solo. Their Acropolis one is pretty entertaining, and the directions are very clear. We also usually try listening to it in advance, since my kids will tell you I am prone to getting "Squirrelitis" and getting lost. Don't listen to them though. it's not true.

Ok! Great advice. I have already downloaded those from Rick. Great resource huh?

 

[Cousin Orville]

Thank you sailing seas. This is all very helpful!! Any view whether it's real or not gets me super excited!!
I was debating on buying wine from Venice or not. Not knowing prices etc, but saw a few wine tasting shops in Venice that looked interesting.

I will absolutely be buying some wine in Venice to take on board. I'll probably restock somewhere in Greece, too

 

[SailingSeas]

Well learn something new every day. They were like 'Honey, we've been adding tips for a while now..." and teasing me. Boy do I feel old!

I think we're going to shop for wine too... at this rate, it's going to be cheaper than a bottle of DCL water!

Teach, I love his podcasts. Although you may want to screen them before letting the kids listen to them. We were in Pompeii doing the tour, and they got to the signage for the bordello section and it took us by surprise.

Has anyone rented a taxi from port to Athens? The rates look pretty reasonable and there are some for prebooking http://www.piraeus-greece.org/piraeus-taxi.html I thought I had also seen information about a brand new bus service directly from port to center Athens that started this spring, but I didn't save the bookmark and of course, now can't find it.

I can't decide if i'm excited that we leave two weeks from today, or sad that one month from this date, we will be back home.

 

[JGteach]

These are the two sites I've been looking at. I'll be touring Athens with the 2nd.

http://www.rhodesprivatetours.com/link_partners.htm

http://www.taxigreece.com