overbooked
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2007
- Messages
- 2
All in one place: Please Post info from your DCL Med excursions HERE
- Thread starter MrsG
- Start date
I noticed that you used limoinrome for Rome. Where did you meet your driver after you got off the ship? I've read people saying that you take a shuttle from the ship to the beginning of the port. Is this the case?
I've booked w/ limoinrome and was concerned about how I would find the driver.
Thanks for any info you can give me.
Nina
shortkathleen
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2007
- Messages
- 179
Thank you so much!! I have cancelled our DCL tour and we are looking forward to doing it on our own. Your help is much appreciated, Kathleen
We did not do any excursions in Palermo. My husband and I walked it and went to all the major points on the map and took alot of great photos. We got to the palace where parliament was held and paid 6 euros to go in and to our surprise received an escorted tour of the cathedral and the palace. There were 2 groups: an English speaking guide and an Italian speaking guide. We managed to catch a bus back to the port costing 1 euro each. From what I heard from others, I'm glad we did it on our own. People were very disappointed who did the city tour with a visit to Ballaro market. We saw everything they did and saved quite a bit of money.
NAPLES:
This is where some of the bad stuff happened. We had spoke to the excursion desk that morning. We had an excursion booked for the afternoon and was wondering if we had time to go over to Capri for some photos and grab a gelato and pizza. We were told no problem. We were one of the very first ones off the ship and headed over to the ticket counters to buy the tixs over to Capri. We noticed that the hydrofoil over the Capri was cancelled, but the ferry was still going. We bought our tickets and noticed several others from the ship doing the same thing. Half way there the waters got very rough with around 12 foot waves crashing against the ferry. We made it there finally. The skies were beautiful but the wind was really gusting. We noticed the tremendous line of hundreds of people with their luggage. We were a bit concerned and proceeded immediately to buy our return ticket. The line roped all the way around the corner with only one window open. The people in front of us spoke English and said everyone was trying to get off the island because of the weather. The ferry we just got off of was going to be the last one back to Naples for the day and the next day. We started to panic not knowing if were going to be able to get a ticket or not. We managed to get a ticket, but barely made it on the ferry. As soon as the last vehicle was off the ferry they were raising the gangway. A couple of people did get let behind who had tickets. The ferry was totally unsafe with people sitting on the floor and in the stairwells as well. Everyone was sick. They were passing out plastic bags. That was the longest 1 hr and 40 mins of my life. We made it back to Naples at 1 pm, 30 minutes prior to our next excursion. We very well could have been stranded on Capri. I got on board and found out Disney had cancelled all the excursions to Capri. I told them of our experience and they said they had found out about the weather 15 minutes after we had left the ship. My only comment to them was that if there was any question about the weather, they should not let any passenger off the ship until they know for sure. I was just upset they never took responsibility, because I did find out they did know the possibility of inclement weather the night before.
On a brighter note, we did proceed to our afternoon excursion to the Hidden Treasures of the Herculaneum. I can't say enough about our tour guide Massimo. He was very knowledgable and seemed to be happy about doing his job. We had a small group of 18 with no kids. So, he altered the tour a little to take out the kids portion of the program. I have not been to Pompeii personally, but talking to people who have on the excursion, they said Herculaneum was much better preserved and saw more here than in Pompeii. It was amazing how some of the stuff (mosaics, frescas, teracotta pots) were in great condition. This was a tour worth doing.
OLBIA:
We did Costa Smeralda in the morning. This was a nice relaxing excursion, and turned out to be a beautiful day. We saw all the beautiful yachts which all weren't there yet because it was not quite season yet. The guide again was knowledgable. We enjoyed our complimentary gelato and had ample enough time to walk around the shops. They were just getting ready to open when we got there. If you want to shop the high end stores do the morning excursion, because I know they were closed during the afternoon one.
ROME:
We did The Ultimate Rome Experience and had a wonderful time. We followed everything on the itinerary. I think we got the luck of the draw, because I heard of others who did not enjoy it. Both our guides we very knowledgable and very organized. They were great in keeping the group together. When we boarded the bus, we received an emergency contact list of numbers if we got separated with the guide's cell phone number along with the company's numbers. We were also given the name and address of the restaraunt we would be at and at what times. The longest line we had was at St. Peter's Basilica, but that moved pretty fast and we got to spend around 45 minutes there. Again, we were told where the meeting was and at what time if we got separated. One guide was always in the front and the other bringing up the rear.We had no line at the Colosseum and walked right in there. It was a long day but very enjoyable. We also gave a positive feedback on this excursion. I believe we got lucky in the timing and the order we went to each place.
LA SPEZIA:
We did the Florence and Pisa excursion. I'll keep this short because I already saw some of the write up already. I was on the bus that was the last one to get back to the ship. It was just the polar opposite of what we encountered in Rome. The guides were not organized. We never got a bottle of water on the bus, which I know they had to pass out, during the whole 12 hour experience. For Rome we received 2 bottles and some crackers. Anyway, there was family who broke away during the excursion. It just felt like we were going in circles. We went back to the cathedral twice and never made it in because the lines were too long. Yet we never got that time substituted to go do some shopping. We did not get alot of stuff that was spelled out in the itinerary. There was no time to shop. When we found out lunch was going to be 2 hours, we decided to skip lunch and go do some of the shopping. We were for such a short period of time and wanted to take in the sights of Florence and do some shopping, not sit down to a 5 course meal that dragged on. We would have been happy with a panini. We went to the recommended shop Italian Loves listed on the shopping guide. Cute little store. We bought Cianti, olive oils, and lemon cellos there. The staff spoke very good English and were friendly. They took care of us knowing we were skipping lunch. The gave us alot of bread and we taste tested everything they had and enjoyed the various wines they had to sample. We also grabbed a slice of pizza on the way back to the restaurant which was at the Palace Borghese. Now I know where most of our excursion money went. We got back, and dessert had not even been served yet. I could have had another 45 mins of shopping. I'll never forget, our guide kept telling us, don't worry about the shopping in Florence, you'll have enough time in Pisa!! There was nothing but "junk" at Pisa. We didn't get the time promised there either. We just had time to run in and grab some photos and then it was time to leave. We had picked up 4 extra people who had got left behind by their group as well. 2 were from Florence and 2 were left behind in Pisa. I don't understand how after they cut all the time off the stops, how we made it back so late. We actually got back on the ship at 8 pm, and we were supposed to back at 6:15. We got no value for the money spent on this excursion like we did for Rome, and it cost more. We did leave negative feedback on this one.
Marseille
We did this on our own. We were very pleased. The little train was close to where the shuttle dropped us off. There were 2 routes you could take for 5 euros each. We did the route that took us up to the cathedral and saw the Disney excursions there. It was beautiful. We took our photos. The train picked up every 20 minutes. That was well worth it. I know of people who did both routes and enjoyed it. It's the same train the Disney excursion uses as well. You save more doing it on your own. Friends of ours did the soap factory tour and said it was good. They did get the soaps cheaper at the factory, but only cash was accepted.
VILLEFRANCHE:
By far the best weather of the trip. I did the create your own perfume excursion and was disappointed with the amount of money I paid. You do not get 100 ml as defined in the excursion details. We got 50 ml. It was a group project with only 6 essences to mix with. I thought it was going to be a more personal feeling. Watching the clips on the ship, I thought we would sit down with someone and they would help figure out what scent would be suit me. It was not like that. You mixed 6 fragrances based upon your ranking of which scent you liked the most down to what you liked the least. You had to use all 6. This one woman was disappointed because she likes floral scents in her perfumes and that choice was not given. I figured we were at the factory where they have the empty miniature perfume bottles and the atomizers that we would get to put our perfume in one of those. All we got was a plastic twist top bottle with no way to apply the perfume. I expected more I guess for my money. The adults also did not get the sovenier soap as promised, the kids did. We also did not receive the diploma for completing the training (which I did not care about), but we did not get what we paid for. Eze village was beutiful and we had ample time to go to the top and go into the garden (admission not included) and take some great photos. Alot of cute little shops. I had questioned the guide about the discrepancies, but she was unaware of what we were supposed to receive,and this was the one time I did not bring the printed excursion detail. I went to the excursion desk, and all I got was thank you for your feedback. I felt like I should have gotten something back for not getting everything I paid for. I didn't know how to get action since I was speaking to the excursion manager. I just felt really disappointed in Disney by the last port. We're used to certain service from them and not to get it is quite alarming.
This was our fifth disney cruise and the first time we were disappointed at the service received from the excursion desk. Everybody else provided wonderful service as usual.
NAPLES:
This is where some of the bad stuff happened. We had spoke to the excursion desk that morning. We had an excursion booked for the afternoon and was wondering if we had time to go over to Capri for some photos and grab a gelato and pizza. We were told no problem. We were one of the very first ones off the ship and headed over to the ticket counters to buy the tixs over to Capri. We noticed that the hydrofoil over the Capri was cancelled, but the ferry was still going. We bought our tickets and noticed several others from the ship doing the same thing. Half way there the waters got very rough with around 12 foot waves crashing against the ferry. We made it there finally. The skies were beautiful but the wind was really gusting. We noticed the tremendous line of hundreds of people with their luggage. We were a bit concerned and proceeded immediately to buy our return ticket. The line roped all the way around the corner with only one window open. The people in front of us spoke English and said everyone was trying to get off the island because of the weather. The ferry we just got off of was going to be the last one back to Naples for the day and the next day. We started to panic not knowing if were going to be able to get a ticket or not. We managed to get a ticket, but barely made it on the ferry. As soon as the last vehicle was off the ferry they were raising the gangway. A couple of people did get let behind who had tickets. The ferry was totally unsafe with people sitting on the floor and in the stairwells as well. Everyone was sick. They were passing out plastic bags. That was the longest 1 hr and 40 mins of my life. We made it back to Naples at 1 pm, 30 minutes prior to our next excursion. We very well could have been stranded on Capri. I got on board and found out Disney had cancelled all the excursions to Capri. I told them of our experience and they said they had found out about the weather 15 minutes after we had left the ship. My only comment to them was that if there was any question about the weather, they should not let any passenger off the ship until they know for sure. I was just upset they never took responsibility, because I did find out they did know the possibility of inclement weather the night before.
On a brighter note, we did proceed to our afternoon excursion to the Hidden Treasures of the Herculaneum. I can't say enough about our tour guide Massimo. He was very knowledgable and seemed to be happy about doing his job. We had a small group of 18 with no kids. So, he altered the tour a little to take out the kids portion of the program. I have not been to Pompeii personally, but talking to people who have on the excursion, they said Herculaneum was much better preserved and saw more here than in Pompeii. It was amazing how some of the stuff (mosaics, frescas, teracotta pots) were in great condition. This was a tour worth doing.
OLBIA:
We did Costa Smeralda in the morning. This was a nice relaxing excursion, and turned out to be a beautiful day. We saw all the beautiful yachts which all weren't there yet because it was not quite season yet. The guide again was knowledgable. We enjoyed our complimentary gelato and had ample enough time to walk around the shops. They were just getting ready to open when we got there. If you want to shop the high end stores do the morning excursion, because I know they were closed during the afternoon one.
ROME:
We did The Ultimate Rome Experience and had a wonderful time. We followed everything on the itinerary. I think we got the luck of the draw, because I heard of others who did not enjoy it. Both our guides we very knowledgable and very organized. They were great in keeping the group together. When we boarded the bus, we received an emergency contact list of numbers if we got separated with the guide's cell phone number along with the company's numbers. We were also given the name and address of the restaraunt we would be at and at what times. The longest line we had was at St. Peter's Basilica, but that moved pretty fast and we got to spend around 45 minutes there. Again, we were told where the meeting was and at what time if we got separated. One guide was always in the front and the other bringing up the rear.We had no line at the Colosseum and walked right in there. It was a long day but very enjoyable. We also gave a positive feedback on this excursion. I believe we got lucky in the timing and the order we went to each place.
LA SPEZIA:
We did the Florence and Pisa excursion. I'll keep this short because I already saw some of the write up already. I was on the bus that was the last one to get back to the ship. It was just the polar opposite of what we encountered in Rome. The guides were not organized. We never got a bottle of water on the bus, which I know they had to pass out, during the whole 12 hour experience. For Rome we received 2 bottles and some crackers. Anyway, there was family who broke away during the excursion. It just felt like we were going in circles. We went back to the cathedral twice and never made it in because the lines were too long. Yet we never got that time substituted to go do some shopping. We did not get alot of stuff that was spelled out in the itinerary. There was no time to shop. When we found out lunch was going to be 2 hours, we decided to skip lunch and go do some of the shopping. We were for such a short period of time and wanted to take in the sights of Florence and do some shopping, not sit down to a 5 course meal that dragged on. We would have been happy with a panini. We went to the recommended shop Italian Loves listed on the shopping guide. Cute little store. We bought Cianti, olive oils, and lemon cellos there. The staff spoke very good English and were friendly. They took care of us knowing we were skipping lunch. The gave us alot of bread and we taste tested everything they had and enjoyed the various wines they had to sample. We also grabbed a slice of pizza on the way back to the restaurant which was at the Palace Borghese. Now I know where most of our excursion money went. We got back, and dessert had not even been served yet. I could have had another 45 mins of shopping. I'll never forget, our guide kept telling us, don't worry about the shopping in Florence, you'll have enough time in Pisa!! There was nothing but "junk" at Pisa. We didn't get the time promised there either. We just had time to run in and grab some photos and then it was time to leave. We had picked up 4 extra people who had got left behind by their group as well. 2 were from Florence and 2 were left behind in Pisa. I don't understand how after they cut all the time off the stops, how we made it back so late. We actually got back on the ship at 8 pm, and we were supposed to back at 6:15. We got no value for the money spent on this excursion like we did for Rome, and it cost more. We did leave negative feedback on this one.
Marseille
We did this on our own. We were very pleased. The little train was close to where the shuttle dropped us off. There were 2 routes you could take for 5 euros each. We did the route that took us up to the cathedral and saw the Disney excursions there. It was beautiful. We took our photos. The train picked up every 20 minutes. That was well worth it. I know of people who did both routes and enjoyed it. It's the same train the Disney excursion uses as well. You save more doing it on your own. Friends of ours did the soap factory tour and said it was good. They did get the soaps cheaper at the factory, but only cash was accepted.
VILLEFRANCHE:
By far the best weather of the trip. I did the create your own perfume excursion and was disappointed with the amount of money I paid. You do not get 100 ml as defined in the excursion details. We got 50 ml. It was a group project with only 6 essences to mix with. I thought it was going to be a more personal feeling. Watching the clips on the ship, I thought we would sit down with someone and they would help figure out what scent would be suit me. It was not like that. You mixed 6 fragrances based upon your ranking of which scent you liked the most down to what you liked the least. You had to use all 6. This one woman was disappointed because she likes floral scents in her perfumes and that choice was not given. I figured we were at the factory where they have the empty miniature perfume bottles and the atomizers that we would get to put our perfume in one of those. All we got was a plastic twist top bottle with no way to apply the perfume. I expected more I guess for my money. The adults also did not get the sovenier soap as promised, the kids did. We also did not receive the diploma for completing the training (which I did not care about), but we did not get what we paid for. Eze village was beutiful and we had ample time to go to the top and go into the garden (admission not included) and take some great photos. Alot of cute little shops. I had questioned the guide about the discrepancies, but she was unaware of what we were supposed to receive,and this was the one time I did not bring the printed excursion detail. I went to the excursion desk, and all I got was thank you for your feedback. I felt like I should have gotten something back for not getting everything I paid for. I didn't know how to get action since I was speaking to the excursion manager. I just felt really disappointed in Disney by the last port. We're used to certain service from them and not to get it is quite alarming.
This was our fifth disney cruise and the first time we were disappointed at the service received from the excursion desk. Everybody else provided wonderful service as usual.
scottishwee35
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2005
- Messages
- 6,123
same with us too as we had cancelled our DCL tour well and do it on our own.
Scottishwee35
Didn't know where to post this...Any suggestions where to go from here...Did not get the kind of service expected from the shore excursions managers, and still not contacted by him when asked to do so on feedback form. I was tired of the same answer of please understand you're the first group and we appreciate your feedback. Something should be done if passengers were not satisfied with their excursions (not getting what you paid for). They appreciated all the postive feedback we left, but nothing was done about the negative. How do I take it to the next level? Don't want my letter just to be read by a customer service rep and tossed aside and never making it up to the proper channels.
konslerg
Donald Rocks!
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2003
- Messages
- 135
Why not write directly to Disney Cruise Lines:
[FONT="]Disney Cruise Vacations
Guest Communications
Post Office Box 10238
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0238[/FONT]
Shercara
ArE wE tHeRe YeT?
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2001
- Messages
- 355
Hi - I am looking for info on the following 2 ports
Palermo - did any one do Mondello Beach on their own ( without DCL?)
If so - how did you get there and back, and what was the cost?
and
Nice - did anyone do the little train tour there on their own? If so, please discribe.
Thanks in advance for your help/responses!
Sherri
Palermo - did any one do Mondello Beach on their own ( without DCL?)
If so - how did you get there and back, and what was the cost?
and
Nice - did anyone do the little train tour there on their own? If so, please discribe.
Thanks in advance for your help/responses!
Sherri
In Palermo, our friends - a family of 6- hired a cab at the port and went to the other side of the island, saw beaches and went shopping. I think they paid 125 E for all of that.. I'll try to find out more and post it.
I do know of several people that did the Nice train on their own also. They took the train from Villefranche to Nice and had no problems.
Hi -
I read that some people did Palermo on their own and were able to walk through the town and see most everything on the "Sights of Palermo" DCL excursion. I'd like to try to do this, but had a few questions...
-- Where does the ship Dock in relation to the City of Palermo?
--Can you just walk from the Port, or do you need to first find transportaion into the City?
If anyone out there did Palermo on their own and has advie for me, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks!
I read that some people did Palermo on their own and were able to walk through the town and see most everything on the "Sights of Palermo" DCL excursion. I'd like to try to do this, but had a few questions...
-- Where does the ship Dock in relation to the City of Palermo?
--Can you just walk from the Port, or do you need to first find transportaion into the City?
If anyone out there did Palermo on their own and has advie for me, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks!
YOu will literally walk off the ship and into the city of Palermo. Very busy and lots of cars and mopeds...be careful crossing the street!
Thanks Jokicha. That's great to know. If the ship is that close, do you know why the Disney excusion says you start with a 50-minute motor coach ride?
MrsG
<font color=peach>We teachers ARE the worst!<br><f
- Joined
- May 28, 2002
- Messages
- 3,681
Is there shopping close to the ship. We are booked for the DCL half day Village of Cefalu excursion and should be back about 1:30. We figured we'd eat on the ship and maybe venture back to Palermo for an hour or two of shopping. Is this practical?
Shercara
ArE wE tHeRe YeT?
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2001
- Messages
- 355
Thanks Jokicha - would love to hear details on how to do the beach Mondello, in Palermo on our own - amd any instructions on the trail to Nice on our own too. Appreciate your reply would love to hear more.
Thanks,
Shercara ( aka - detailed planner and list maker!)
Anyone travelling on the July 7th med cruise......
I have been emailing Drive Amalfi regarding their private tours to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast and found out today that they still have drivers and vans available if anyone is interested. Just email them and they get back to you pronto - I was VERY impressed!
I have been emailing Drive Amalfi regarding their private tours to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast and found out today that they still have drivers and vans available if anyone is interested. Just email them and they get back to you pronto - I was VERY impressed!
Very practical. Go shopping on the little side streets, very unique photo opportunities and lots of other merchandise.
They may be taking people to another place for shopping. At Marseilles, the excursion described a 30 min motor coach ride and it was the free shuttle for the rest of us.
Deb T.
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 17, 1999
- Messages
- 3,532
Hi vegs1,
If you're sailing on the 7/7/07 Med cruise, please join us on this "DIS Meets" thread!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1075984
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