August 10, 2013 Magic 7 Day Med!!

[CBEB]

Wow, great info bats! We're in Barcelona a couple of extra days. Anyone have some "must see" recommendations? Fun shopping areas?

 

[Feigned]

My sister and I just booked this cruise! We are so excited. We have not been on a Mediterranean cruise before... or to Europe at all for that matter. We can't wait!

 

[CBEB]

My sister and I just booked this cruise! We are so excited. We have not been on a Mediterranean cruise before... or to Europe at all for that matter. We can't wait!

Welcome Aboard!!

 

[bats]

Wow, great info bats! We're in Barcelona a couple of extra days. Anyone have some "must see" recommendations? Fun shopping areas?

There's no such thing in this world as 'fun' shopping!! I'm allergic to shopping of any kind, so I'm no use helping with that question!!

My sister and I just booked this cruise! We are so excited. We have not been on a Mediterranean cruise before... or to Europe at all for that matter. We can't wait!

Welcome aboard!! The Med cruise last year was wonderful, I'm sure it will be this year too!

Are you planning on doing a little extra in Europe before or after the cruise?

 

[Nat Tucker]

We are booked too! It will be me, DH, DS13 and DS12 (8/10 is his 12th birthday!) Never been to Europe either and were thinking of going to Spain or somewhere before or after the trip. Paris does sound nice. Would love to do Adventures by Disney, but that's quite a few extra pennies! lol

Well we wont be on this cruise now. Airfare was too much. Splurging on the Fantasy at Thanksgiving and the Transatlantic in 2014.

Yall have fun!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[uncw89]

Well we wont be on this cruise now. Airfare was too much. Splurging on the Fantasy at Thanksgiving and the Transatlantic in 2014.

Yall have fun!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

We won't be on it either due to airfare!!! Going on the Fantasy Aug. 2014! Have a great time!!!

 

[CBEB]

Yikes, anyone left?? So sorry you all won't be joining us. Have a great time on the Fantasy!

 

[GreenAcres]

I must confess that our airfare did cost more than the cruise. I can certainly understand how it would cause people to rethink Med cruising.

 

[MVAN]

We booked last August (during the New England Coast cruise). It is myself, my friend and her 16 year old daughter. This will be our 8th Disney cruise and our 2nd Med cruise with Disney (last time was 2007). We will be flying out a week before the cruise to stay in Italy and then fly to Barcelona to catch the cruise. We really loved the Med cruise in 2007 and looking forward to both repeating some experiences (cinque terre) and trying some new places.

 

[CBEB]

We booked last August (during the New England Coast cruise). It is myself, my friend and her 16 year old daughter. This will be our 8th Disney cruise and our 2nd Med cruise with Disney (last time was 2007). We will be flying out a week before the cruise to stay in Italy and then fly to Barcelona to catch the cruise. We really loved the Med cruise in 2007 and looking forward to both repeating some experiences (cinque terre) and trying some new places.

Welcome! My DH and I are also sailing with our 16 year old daughter - cruise #9 for us! She'll be excited to hear about someone her age in our group!

We've never been to the Med so are spending a few days ahead of the cruise in Barcelona.

 

[bats]

Well we wont be on this cruise now. Airfare was too much. Splurging on the Fantasy at Thanksgiving and the Transatlantic in 2014.

Yall have fun!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Shame you're not cruising the Med, but understand about the flight prices ... Now you know how we Brits feel each time we cruise from Port Canaveral!!!

We'll see you on the WBTA in 2014 though as we're on that one too!!

 

[kel585]

Myself and my DM are coming on this cruise. Along with my aunt and uncle, with their 3 children DD16, DD13 and DS9. This will be our second Med cruise with DCL, and my mom's 6th Disney cruise overall, not including all the cruises I have done whilst working on the Dream.

We're super excited about our up coming cruise. Can't wait to be sailing away with you all!!!

 

[CBEB]

Just paid in full, so not turning back now! since we're spending a couple of days pre-cruise in Barcelona we bought Rick Stevee's Barcelona tour guide today. Getting really excited!

Are people still interested in doing the Fish Exchange? Been thinking of FE gifts!

 

[MVAN]

Has anyone started planning their shore excursions? Would love to hear people's ideas or experiences from previous cruises.

 

[GreenAcres]

We have a Segway tour of Barcelona booked as well as private tours for Pisa/Florence, Pompeii/Sorrento and Rome. I used Rick Steve's guides to help find these excursions. I have nothing planned for Villefranche... A tragedy for my OCD-planning-obsessed self! We're not thrilled by DCL's offerings (or prices), so if you guys have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

 

[Duxy68]

Hiya were goin a Duxfields family trip on this very cruise. Is it very disneyfied ? Do you get the same atmosphere like the parks ?

 

[texasgirl29]

Hello everyone, we're a family of four from Waco, Texas: Myself, dh Paul and dd16 Stephanie and dd13 Rachel. My FIL David and MIL Norene from California with their son Brian who is an adult with Downs.

My inlaws have done a DCL Med cruise before a couple of years ago. They are big cruise fans and we're lucky enough that they take us along.

Last year we went on the Fantasy. Rachel LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the Edge and spent as much time there as possible. Stephanie, on the other hand, was glued to my side and would not go to the teen club. I would love it if she would and I know she'd enjoy it, but other than having a couple of teen girls come and kidnap her and take her there, I don't see it happening. <sigh>

We are leaving Dallas on Aug. 6 and arrive in Barcelona on the following day for three nights. We plan to go to Sagrada Familia and walk on Las Ramblas, but other than that, I've got a bunch of things I'd like to do... it's all jumbled inside my head.

We have a reservation with Ingrid for Villafranche as she was highly recommended on Cruise Critic. It's so easy to go with the ship excursions and of course the added security of knowing the ship must wait for you. (We've a couple of times on other cruises where that has come in very handy.) But seeing the DCL excursions costs about $200 each for four of us, it's just not feasible. I read a thread from a woman with her friend and their daughters who did all DIY Med excursions and that really got to thinking how we can save money.

It would be nice if we DIYers could meet up to walk to the train stations, etc. I don't know if my inlaws will want to do DIY because of some limitations with their son as far as walking, bathroom breaks, etc.

JoAnn

 

[CBEB]

Hello everyone, we're a family of four from Waco, Texas: Myself, dh Paul and dd16 Stephanie and dd13 Rachel. My FIL David and MIL Norene from California with their son Brian who is an adult with Downs.

My inlaws have done a DCL Med cruise before a couple of years ago. They are big cruise fans and we're lucky enough that they take us along.

Last year we went on the Fantasy. Rachel LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the Edge and spent as much time there as possible. Stephanie, on the other hand, was glued to my side and would not go to the teen club. I would love it if she would and I know she'd enjoy it, but other than having a couple of teen girls come and kidnap her and take her there, I don't see it happening. <sigh>

We are leaving Dallas on Aug. 6 and arrive in Barcelona on the following day for three nights. We plan to go to Sagrada Familia and walk on Las Ramblas, but other than that, I've got a bunch of things I'd like to do... it's all jumbled inside my head.

JoAnn

Welcome! We too have a DD16 that sticks to us like glue because she's a bit shy. If we can connect these two together, maybe they'll hang out on the ship together! When she was younger, we had no problem getting her into the kids clubs - as soon as she hit middle school, she's not been willing to go unless she knew someone.

We leave Dallas the day after you and are staying at the Renaissance (one of the Disney-designated hotels). If you can think of a way to have the girls meet, we're all for it!

 

[texasgirl29]

I looked at the schedule of ships in port on August 14 on www.cruisett.com when we are in Civitavecchia and there are five ships, a total of more than 14,000 people! That's a lot of people scurrying about to get on trains and buses.

I printed out the guide from www.tomsportguides.com and he mentioned when there were that many people in port at once in May 2010, his cruiseline (Princess) announced there could be a 4-6 hour wait for taxis and trains were so crowded they would not pick up passengers. Yikes!

I also searched youtube for some videos on exactly how to get from the ship to the train and into Rome. I think I'm obsessing....

 

[texasgirl29]

I am leaning toward this tour company for Rome and/or Naples-Pompeii. Anyone else thinking of using them?

http://cantbemissedtours.com/

It seems to be a good compromise between DIY and taking a ship excursion.