All in one place: Please Post info from your DCL Med excursions HERE

[sunshine state kim]

For the Pisa trip...you climbed the tour. How did that go? We are wondering what the difficulty would be as we have one person quite out of shape and also a 9 year old that we thought it may be too difficult for if you must keep up to a guide. Any thoughts?

We have a 10 year old who is a little scared of heights. Climbing down from one of the towers in the Sagrada Familia was pretty scary for him. It was raining when we did the Pisa climb and the stairs were wet. Suprisingly not slippery at all. They limit the number of people climbing at a time so at no time in the climb either up or down, did we meet traffic coming the other way. It didn't feel claustrophobic. For a person quite out of shape I don't think it would work. The stairs are very worn so they are uneven. There are a couple of places to stand out of the way and catch your breath. You can feel a difference in the climb as you go around due to the lean. Sometimes it's harder than others. I am 45 and pretty good shape. I was winded a bit at the top and did feel a bit of a strain in my knees sometimes. We went up failry quickly though. The 10 year old did great.

Our disney excursion on Olbia that was cancelled was the full day beach trip to the Madellena islands. We had a note in our room the night before saying it had been cancelled by the company scheduled to do the trip. The seas were pretty rough that night (put quite a damper on my Palo dinner!), but the day on Olbia the weather was beautiful. I am so sorry we weren't able to go to one of the beaches. They looked beautiful on the postcards!

 

[Rogillio]

Palermo - We did the Mysterious Palermo and it was great. The catacombs were awesome. It was only 1/2 a day so we came back later on our own and visited the Palermo cathedral that we'd driven by on the excursion.

Naples - Did the Mt Vesuvius hike and Pompeii. This was totally awesome and and I am so glad we did this! This was truly an 'experience' that I don't think I can yet describe. We head some folks who did the Capri one and lots of people got totally sick on the boat before the shut the boat trip down.

Olbia - didn't do anything here. Just walked about town. I heard from people that took the beach excursions that the beaches were very pretty.

Rome - We did this on our own. Not the "Rome on your own" but truly on our own. We went on-line and purchased train tickets, walked to the train station and rode the train into Rome. We then got the all-day subway/bus pass for about $16 or something like that. The subway is very easy to use. We were able to do so much more than people who did excursions. We did St Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon and lots of ruins. We then rode the bus back to the train station and took the train back to the port. Awesome day!!

La Pezia - We did the Florence/Pisa tour and it was a total rip-off. We rode the bus 2.5 hrs into Florence and then walked around the city. We 'wasted' 1.5 hrs eating lunch, then rode the bus to Pisa where we were on our own. The excursion did not take us into anything, we only walked by. Both Pisa and Florence were packed with tourists! I wish we had done these cities on out own. We could have taken the train to the cities and toured on our own. The excursion was $165 per person and totally a waste of money. I would rather have just grabbed a slice of pizza than waste 1.5 hrs eating lunch.

Marseille - We did the Little Train excursion and this was a total rip-off! The excursion went like this: Rice the bus into town. Get off the bus and were told we were 'on our own' for 2 hrs and to meet back at the train. We walked around killing time. Then we got on the little train that took us to the cathedral. After the train tour they took us back to the ship. So the whole excursion was the little train tour. The train was cool BUT the train ride was only 5 euro or about $8. The little train excursion was $45. I recommend taking the free shuttle into town (or walk) and buy your own little train ticket.

Villefranche - we did the Monaco/Monte Carlo and Eze tour and it was very nice. The palace at Monaco was incredible. I visited a casino but only had about 30 minutes to put a few bucks in the slots. Eze was very scenic. Pretty good excursion.

~Mike

 

[jackson190]

I have been in contact with a private tour company for Florence/Lucca. They have been recommended and have good reviews on cruise critic boards. They would like to hold my reservation with a credit card but their website does not have the secure sign. Is this common? Has anyone else encountered this?

 

[sunshine state kim]

Thanks for all of the great information!

For those of you who hired your own tour guide at Florence/Pisa, can you please tell us how long it took for you to get off the ship in the morning at La Spezia? Did they let all the Disney excursion people off first, and then you were able to get off the boat? We're trying to see how long to allow before we can actually meet with a private driver, or catch the train.

We met at the Buena Vista theater for our tender tickets and it seemed like they worked in Disney Excursion people and on your own people on the same tenders. We were off the ship by about 8:30 (which is the time we were aiming for). Our driver had a problem parking at the port as the police wouldn't let him just sit waiting for us so he had to park a little ways away and we had to wait for him a bit and then head over to his van.

 

[michellebriana]

Just noticed on the DCL website that they are offering a new excurison in several of the ports (Florence, Rome, Villefrache) that allows you to have a priavte car and driver/guide. You need to email a form to request a quote. Has anyone gotten a quote yet? I am curious as to how the price compares with other private tour companies.

Quotes are outrageous! Well over $1000 for a group of 6. I have the price sheet if anyone wants it.

 

[Deb T.]

Quotes are outrageous! Well over $1000 for a group of 6. I have the price sheet if anyone wants it.

I couldn't seem to locate the form on the website to request a quote. Does your price sheet say how much a driver for Florence/Pisa would be for four adults?

 

[miclen]

Quotes are outrageous! Well over $1000 for a group of 6. I have the price sheet if anyone wants it.

I like to see the price sheet. I did submit a form for a quote but have not recieved anything yet.

 

[miclen]

I couldn't seem to locate the form on the website to request a quote. Does your price sheet say how much a driver for Florence/Pisa would be for four adults?

I found the excursion pages. If you pick a port (ie Florence) and then click on the excursion list for that port there is an option for a private driver. Click on "Learn more" and there is a link to the form.

 

[michellebriana]

I couldn't seem to locate the form on the website to request a quote. Does your price sheet say how much a driver for Florence/Pisa would be for four adults?

I had to e-mail them for it. It is an excel workbook so I can't copy and paste here. Price for 4 (up to 7 - sedan is 3 max) for a full day is $1750. That is just a driver. If you also want an escort & guide it is $2750.

 

[michellebriana]

I like to see the price sheet. I did submit a form for a quote but have not recieved anything yet.

PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send it to you.

 

[buck4568]

I like to see the price sheet. I did submit a form for a quote but have not recieved anything yet.

It sounds about right from what I have seen for a party of 6 that were going to pay around 800 euro for Florence.. Convert the U.S. dollar figure to euros and the prices are probably about what you will find if you get quotes on your own from private tour companies. Of course DCL will add a small profit for themselves.

What about the tickets to get into the venues. They figured into the Disney price?

 

[AnnaS]

I had to e-mail them for it. It is an excel workbook so I can't copy and paste here. Price for 4 (up to 7 - sedan is 3 max) for a full day is $1750. That is just a driver. If you also want an escort & guide it is $2750.

$2,750?

 

[vegs1]

Ltl Mermaid - Just a couple of questions on your Nice and Monaco excursion. Did you actually go to the Oceanographic Museum and if so, what is it and is it worth it? Also...where did you eat in Eze and was there a varied menu to choose from (I can't eat fish). Was there free time in Eze to look around?

We're trying to decide whether to do the excursion or just take the train from Villefranche to these places. Seems easy enough but I've never been there so don't know. Thanks for the help.

 

[Runnermom123]

We met at the Buena Vista theater for our tender tickets and it seemed like they worked in Disney Excursion people and on your own people on the same tenders. We were off the ship by about 8:30 (which is the time we were aiming for). Our driver had a problem parking at the port as the police wouldn't let him just sit waiting for us so he had to park a little ways away and we had to wait for him a bit and then head over to his van.

Thanks for the info!

 

[seema]

I have booked tours for the 3 mainland Italian stops - Naples/Pompeii, Rome, and Florence/Pisa.

For the moment, I am holding off booking for the French Riviera, Marseilles, Sicily, and Sardinia. I am wondering if the ports of call are within easy walking distance of the main cities (Monte Carlo for the French Riviera). Can these areas be walked easily and/or can one take a taxi (perhaps to take one around on a timed basis, for a few hours?) to see the sights. For the French Riviera, I am thinking of taking a taxi to go from Monte Carlo to Nice and Cannes, and then back. For Marseilles, I am interested in taking the free half-hourly shuttle from the ship to the harbour.

Do any of the 7 cities have a on-off tourist type bus (I believe that Barcelona has that type of bus).

 

[mickeyfanmom]

So it sounds like NOBODY liked the Florence/Pisa Disney excursion, right?
I am really beginning to think that we should cancel it. I may post a new thread on the general board at large to see any other opinions, but it doesn't look good at this point.

Those of you who have already been there- do you think that it would be better to go into Florence and shop on your own and then try to go over to Pisa and see the tower? Would you have enough time to do both on your own?

Someone mentioned the train into these cities. Where do you catch that and how much is it? Euros? Can passage be arranged in advance?

Thanks SO much for helping us all out. Hopefully I can do the same for others upon our return!

 

[seema]

I have booked the all day Rome/Vatican City, Florence and Michelangelo, and Pompeii and Almati coast tours. I am in the process of booking tours at the other ports of call. I wonder which tours have long stopovers at the stores - I would try to avoid them.

 

[earpiemom]

Rogillio,
Sorry but I have another question. We were thinking of doing the Monaco,Monte Carlo, Eze tour like you did. How was the lunch? Was it a long lunch? I take it from your writing that you were pleased with it. Did you feel it gave you enough time to get a good overview of the area? Thanks!!

 

[konslerg]

Rogillio,
Sorry but I have another question. We were thinking of doing the Monaco,Monte Carlo, Eze tour like you did. How was the lunch? Was it a long lunch? I take it from your writing that you were pleased with it. Did you feel it gave you enough time to get a good overview of the area? Thanks!!

We also did the Monaco, Monte Carlo and Eze tour and loved it. We thought it was one of the best we did. We had just enough time in each location to see the high points without feeling really rushed.

Lunch at the Cafe du Paris (in the same square as the Grand Casino) was very good (and leisurely!). I'd say we spent at least an hour for lunch, maybe 90 minutes ...I didn't keep track because we were having such a great time talking to the folks at our table.

The only thing we wish we had skipped was the audio tour (headphones) of the interior of the royal palace at Monaco. Admission is included in your tour, so you might as well go in, but listening to all the audio was way too much information for us (until we figured out how to fast-forward to the next room LOL)

Eze is wonderful! Don't miss it! ...but lots of hill climbing and steps. It's definitely not for anyone who has a problem with steps and stairs.

 

[konslerg]

I have booked the all day Rome/Vatican City, Florence and Michelangelo, and Pompeii and Almati coast tours. I am in the process of booking tours at the other ports of call. I wonder which tours have long stopovers at the stores - I would try to avoid them.

To be truthful, none of the tours had very much shopping time; half an hour at most, but usually even less.

That was the one big complaint I heard from some folks ...not enough free/shopping time.

Like you, I'm not a shopper, so I didn't miss it at all and used what time we did have to just explore a bit and maybe get a gelato.