7/26/2014 - 12-Night Mediterranean Cruise (with Greece)

[fitzpat]

We are booked!!! This will be our first cruise on DCL and we can't wait! Anyone else going? Did I mention that I can't wait? If I have then I have nothing else yet to say

I have now been looking at other "meeting" sites and would like to update the intro to our cruise. Therefore, below please find our cruise itinerary:

Day 1 (July 26) ~ Port of Barcelona, Spain ~~ Onboard by 4:00pm.

Day 2 (July 27) ~ Port of Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice) ~~ Ashore at 8:45am ~~ Onboard by 6:30pm.

Day 3 (July 28) ~ Port of La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa) ~~ Ashore at 7:45am ~ Onboard by 7:30pm.

Day 4 (July 29) ~ Port of Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) ~~ Ashore at 7:15am ~~ Onboard by 6:45 pm

Day 5 (July 30) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At Sea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 6 (July 31) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At Sea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 7 (August 1) ~ Port of Piraeus, Greece (Athens) ~~ Ashore at 8:00am ~~ Onboard by 6:45 pm.

Day 8 (August 2) ~ Port of Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus) ~~ Ashore at 7:30am ~~ Onboard by 6:45 pm.

Day 9 (August 3) ~ Port of Mykonos, Greece ~~ Ashore at 7:30am ~~ Onboard by 6:45 pm.

Day 10 (August 4) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At Sea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 11 (August 5) ~ Port of Valletta, Malta ~~ Ashore at 7:45am ~~ Onboard by 5:00 pm.

Day 12 (August 6) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At Sea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 13 (August 7) ~ Port of Barcelona, Spain ~~ Ashore at 7:00am.

Post #2 Roll Call

Post #10 has planning links

There is a seperate link for our EF activities http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=47561149

 

[fitzpat]

Following my attempt to have a better intro section to our "Meeting" thread, I am using this post for our ROLL CALL!

"Meet Your Fellow Mediterranean (Greece) Cruisers!
To be added to the Roll Call, please post in the thread as much of the following information as you desire:

~~ your Disname
~~ names of people traveling in your party, plus age of children at the time we sail
~~ where you are from
~~ dining information (first or second seating),
~~ stateroom(s) number.
~~ if you are interested in the FE, SM, and/or candy exchanges. Once there are several people signing up for these, we can start that planning.


OUR ROLL CALL:
fitzpat - (Helen), Spouse (Cindy). We are from Connecticut. Second seating. Deck 6 cat 5c
modisneychick -- (Tammy), DH, DD (20), and DS (16)
andyhp --
CyninMn -- (Cyndi), BFF (Sharon). From Mn. First seating Deck 6 5c
TammyAlpabet - (Tammy), DD (16). From Tennessee. First seating. Deck 6
Stasia5 -- Anne, DH Kevin, DS Zach (11) and DD Mira (6) from Michigan. First seating. Deck 2

 

[eemaxx]

We haven't booked yet, but this is the cruise that we are seriously considering. I have a placeholder cruise for Alaska in 2014 that we are most likely going to switch to this one. We're just waiting to see if another family is going to join us. We have 2 kids who will be 11 and 7 at the time of cruising. Looking at a verandah room, but that price tag is hard to swallow (especially with airfare on top of that). This is a trip you may not do again though, so I'm ready to book!

 

[IrishCowboy]

I have added your thread to the cruise meet list

Have a great cruise!

 

[konslerg]

I'm not a "die hard" Dis-boarder, but I do visit when I need good information. We booked the June 14, 2014 Med cruise and I am totally excited. My dh and I were on the inaugural Disney cruise in the Mediterranean back in 2007 and we had such a wonderful time ...but we didn't get to see everything we wanted to see. So, we threw the coins in Trevi Fountain, but really never expected to return to Rome.

Guess what! We'll be there in 2014 ;-)

For the cities we visited in 2007, we plan to do some different shore excursions so we get to see some of the wonderful things we missed. In some cities, we're just planning to walk around on our own since we've already seen the "highlights." And in the new (Well, new to us ...but definitely OLD cities LOL) cities, we are looking forward to seeing things we've always wanted to see (like Venice!). Love the itinerary for this cruise. It fits us perfectly.

Gloria

 

[modisneychick]

We booked this cruise on opening day. I have a lot to research, but cannot wait! This will be our first visit to Europe. It will be me, dh, dd 20 and ds 16.

 

[konslerg]

We booked this cruise on opening day. I have a lot to research, but cannot wait! This will be our first visit to Europe. It will be me, dh, dd 20 and ds 16.

...but lots of time for research. I think that's half the fun. Plus, there are a lot of folks who have already been, so we should be able to get some good ideas and recommendations from them.

 

[andyhp]

We are booked too! Did Magic in the Med August 2011 and couldn't resist a 12 night including Greece and Turkey. Great Itinerary and a fantastic ship.
Plenty of research to do plus the excitement of discovering what they are doing to the Magic during an exceptional 6 week dry dock this September.

 

[fitzpat]

As others have stated, I too must start and have started my research -- today I got my Rick Steves' book on Mediterranean ports.

I was looking through the information provided by my agent (Dreams Unlimited), and I noted that they only provide information for excursions in the Caribbean. Has anyone seen info on excursions for the Med?

Yeah!!

 

[fitzpat]

Tinkerbelltwins has gathered a significant amount of info in a different med cruise thread. I contacted her and asked her if she would permit me to post her information, which she gracioiusly has allowed. I have added a few of my own to the below as well as her work. Please contact me either through a PM or a post to add additional links.

Listed below are some websites and DISthread links for our cruise planning. If you come across any useful links, please post them in our thread and we can move them over to this central spot. Some of you have cruised the Med before, or have done land vacations to the Eastern Med, and we want to learn from your experiences.

DCL - Adventures by Disney for this cruise
http://www.adventuresbydisney.com/europe/mediterranean-greece-cruises/

Port Links

Barcelona ~

http://www.spain.info/?l=en_US [Tourist Office of Spain's official site.]
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.c...hotel-map.html [tourist guide info on hotels]
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...-airport-hotel [Marriott airport hotel in Barcelona]
http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/index.php [Sagrada Familia]
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.c...rat-spain.html [tourist guide info on Montserrat]
http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/ [Barcelona's official tourism site]
http://www.fcbarcelona.com/camp-nou [for soccer fans]

The hotels that DCL will be using in Barcelona are:

Hilton Diagonal Mar-- http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/spa...MHI/index.html
Renaissance Barcelona (used to be the Hotel AC Diplomatic) -- http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...el-diplomatic/

Villefranche, France ~

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...portation.html [article about using the bus in Nice]
http://en.nicetourisme.com/ [Nice official tourism website]
http://www.europeportreviews.com/Villefranche.htm [port of Villefranche] Scroll half way down and it shows you a picture of where to catch the train to Monaco.

http://www.monte-carlo.mc/en/ [Monaco Monte-Carlo official website]
http://www.avidcruiser.com/2009/09/2...ranche-monaco/ [two perfect days in Nice, Villefranche and Monaco]

La Spezia, Italy ~

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Livorno-04-20-2011.pdf [port of La Spezia]
http://www.opapisa.it/en/home-page.html [site to pre-order tickets for Leaning Tower of Pisa]
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/174/ [Florence]
http://www.duomofirenze.it/index-eng.htm [Florence: Duomo]
http://www.uffizi.com/accademia-gallery-florence.asp {Florence: Uffizi (note: closed on Mondays ]
http://www.cinqueterre.com/eng/information/card/ [the Cinque Terre card]
http://www.parks.it/parco.nazionale....rre/Eindex.php [Cinque Terre]
http://www.eportreviews.com/Europe/Naples_Italy.htm scroll down for train info

Civitavecchia, Italy ~

http://www.europeportreviews.com/Rome2.htm [how to get to Rome by train]
http://www.europeportreviews.com/Rome.htm [port of Civitavecchia]
www.yourtourinitaly.com used by a DIS user and had a great experiance with private tour in Rome
www.romeinlimo.com private tour
http://www.tomsportguides.com/Rome-04-10-2011.pdf Rome very detailed info
http://www.tickitaly.com/ Tickets for Italy


Piraeus, Greece (Athens) ~

http://www.europeportreviews.com/Athens.htm [port of Piraeus]
www.athensguide.org{Athens Greece Guide]
http://www.avidcruiser.com/port-prof...greece/athens/[Avidcruiser: Cruising From Athens]

Kusadasi, Turkey (Ephesus) ~

http://www.europeportreviews.com/Kusadasi.htm [port of Kusadasi]
http://www.mediterranean-cruise-port...asi-tours.html [port of Kusadasi]

Mykonos, Greece ~

http://www.europeportreviews.com/Mykonos.htm [port of Mykonos]
http://www.avidcruiser.com/port-prof...reece/mykonos/ [avidcruiser: Mykonos: The Pelican Island guide]

Valletta, Malta ~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-flYdtqBxA [video of the Magic welcomed into the Port!]
http://cruise-international.com/malta-port-guide/ [port of Valletta, Malta]
http://www.visitmalta.com/main?l=1 [official tourism site for Malta, Gozo and Comino]
http://www.maltabulb.com/time_in_malta.html [touring tips for short time in Malta]

DISthread Links: (Trip Reports, Threads on the Main Cruise Board, etc)

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3046310 current thread for 2013 tips

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2870617 [Thread: Barcelona Hotels Precruise]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2868221 [Thread: If you have done the Med Cruise before with Disney]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2868499 [Thread: Questions for past Med cruisers]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2663068 [Thread: Med planning in 2011]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2288346 [Thread: lots of great planning links]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2653459 [Thread: Villefranche on your own]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2653459 [Thread: Cinque Terre on your own]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2663068 [Thread: Med Ports on your own]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2485312 [Trip Report: DisneyFalcon's First Med Cruise - Our Excellent Adventure]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2435876 [Trip Report: Magic in the Med: Dicecatt and Dicedawg's April 24th Voyage]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2487593 [Trip Report: Sayhello's ABD Trip Report for the Med 2011]
http://thewhitehouseblog.weebly.com/index.html [Trip Blog: Anal Annie's trip report/blog of Med cruise and trip beforehand to Paris]
http://thefairygodblogger.blogspot.com/ [Trip Blog: Bibbidibobbidibecky's DCL blog which has her Med cruise in it]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread....&highlight=med [Video Trip Report: Phil, Emma and Ben's Med Cruise]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2746104 [Trip Report: Janey2000's Magical Med Cuise June 2011]
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2761025 [Trip Report: Lornak's Med Cruise 2011]
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise...iterranean.htm [Magic in the Med: Disunplugged in the Med 2010]

 

[DizC1288]

CyninMn ~ Cyndi and BFF Sharon. We are from MN. First seating. Dec 6 cat 5c

I feel like I am coping you

This will be my 6th disney cruise and Sharons 2nd disney cruise.
It will be both of ours first med. cruise.

I have been following the 2013 med cruise threads for the past year as we had planned to go in July but it didn't work out.

I hope we get active cruisers......should be a great time!
Thanks for starting the thread
Cyndi

 

[fitzpat]

So glad to hear from you Cyndi and very excited you and Sharon are on the cruise! Welcome! Let me know if there is an event you want to lead or participate in.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Just switched from the 7/5 cruise to this one.

~~ TammyAlphabet
~~ Tammy, DD (16)
~~ Tennessee
~~ First
~~ 6647
~~ I don't usually do the FE and other exchanges.

 

[fitzpat]

Tammy,

Welcome! So glad that you and your daughter are joining us on the cruise! If you two decide that you would like to join the EF, that would be wonderful. As it stands right now it would be a very small group so the gifties would be very thoughtful

Looking forward to meeting you two, please let me know if you would like to organize a different event or get together.

 

[churros]

My sister and I are from Australia and are hoping to book this trip soon. This will be our second Disney cruise but the first in the Mediterranean

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I hope you book soon

 

[fitzpat]

Welcome Tammy and Churros! I hope you are able to join us it looks like a wonderful trip

 

[Stasia5]

Thank you for starting this thread! This will be our third cruise and our first trip to Europe. We are planning a grand adventure with a week in London, Paris, a few days at Disneyland Paris and Barcelona. The cruise will wrap up our trip. It will be myself, Anne (Stasia5), DH Kevin, DS Zach (11) and DD Mira (6) from Michigan. We are in room 2133 and have first seating for dinner. Looking forward to reading thru all the links you posted. Any info and help with planning is greatly appreciated!

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Welcome!

 

[fitzpat]

Welcome Anne and family!!! How exciting to have another family sign up! I hope you sign up for the FE exchange -- humerously enough, I am looking forward to the puzzle of giving something to kids. That will be a tough nut to crack, but I do enjoy a challenge.