August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[Anal Annie]

My goodness there has been alot of activity on this thread recently!. Sorry I haven't been on in a while, I tend to be on TheDibb more. It's kinda like a UK version of the DIS. It has a very small cruise section and so far it's only Justine and myself on 13th August cruise so we haven't picked up any more peeps on those boards either well apart from Luke of course> TheDibb seem to have quite a few peeps sailing on the 20th August cruise.

So far the only hotel I have really looked at is the Novotel as I know it sleeps 4 which is what I need. It seems to get good reviews and there were quite a few Dibbers on the Dover to Barcelona cruise in the summer who stayed there and they would all recommend it. Still I can't do anything until the flights are out.

I will endeavour to be on more often.

Welcome aboard Luke

Kelly

So glad you're back & that you haven't ditched us all!!! I was really thinking you'd jumped ship!!! I don't know this Dibb board......

Novotel is definitely a bargain for families and I've read it's pretty good - nice enough but a little lacking in service - but good for the price. It is currently ranked #145 out of 560 on Trip Advisor. It is still on my "short list" but I've added a few others that may be in a little better location for sightseeing (within walking distance of a couple of places). We only need to find a "triple" which might be easier to find than a quad. The others I've added to consider are Hotel EuroPark which is ranked #11 on Trip Advisor http://www.hoteleuropark.com/, Hotel Jazz (ranked # 9 on Trip Advisor) http://www.hoteljazz.com/ and Hotel Barcelona Catedral http://www.barcelonacatedral.com/en/. The Jazz and Catedral properties are recommended by EyeWitness Travel. All 3 of these have pools which I want for sure for our longer stay. The other property I found which looks like a good possibility for our 1 night pre-cruise is the Hotel Constanza http://www.hotelconstanza.com/ang/index.htm. This one is #34 on Trip Advisor - it is recommended by Frommer's and Fodor's and is very close to Placa Catalunya - but it does not have a pool. It looks nice however and is in a good location if we want to do a short walking tour. I believe most of these properties are 3 stars. I have read thru many of their reviews and feel like we wouldn't be going wrong with any of these OR the Novotel. They are all what I consider reasonably priced, moderate hotels. I don't see a need to pay a fortune per night for say the Diagonal Zero or 1898 or Hotel Neri or one of those 5 star properties.

I also need to do more research about our days in Paris. We WERE planning to just use our DVC points to stay there but they want about 134 points for 4 nights at the Sequoia Lodge. That is the cheapest property that we can use points at. That's pretty steep for points. If we were to rent the points out at an average of $10 pp that makes the 4 nights cost about $1,340 USD PLUS they'll make us buy length of stay park tickets. I think that sounds like a lot. I wanted to preserve our cash BUT I am wondering if we could get some sort of a package deal at DLP that includes park tickets for about the same? I mean, if we use points we'll have to pay a $95 exchange fee plus buy the park tickets but not pay for lodging. But so I need to compare what a true package would run VS using points. If 4 nights on cash isn't outrageous we might be just as well off to save our points and pay cash. We want to use our points at the new DVC resort on Oahu, Hawaii in 2012 so I am trying to scrimp & save points for that too!

I have been toying with the idea of trying to squeeze in a trip to FL at the end of May next year. We did this LAST year - we have a 3 day weekend here called Memorial Day which is sort of our beginning of summer - it's the last weekend of May & right after DS's birthday....we went for 4 nights last year as a surprise for DS's birthday...took him out of school for the Tuesday after so we could have 3 full days down there... I was thinking we could make the ressie when our 7 month booking window opens & then see how our taxes come out next year...IF we get enough back to afford the darn park tickets & flights we could surprise DS again with another quick trip for his birthday. If we don't get enough back then we don't & DS won't know any different & we'll just cancel the ressie. I have not discussed this idea yet with DH.... Yep, I'm always planning!!!

 

[Kels Sem]

Hey, thanks for the names of all these hotels. I'll have a look at them and see if any can sleep 4. I really must start doing more research. I have a friend who is currently on the last of this year's Med cruises so I'm looking forward to hearing all about their trip. I will also find out what hotel they used. This was the friend I mentioned a back in May who was booked on one of the first Med cruises but didn't make it due to the ash cloud Disney were really good and let them change to this one.

We were in Florida in 2009 over Memorial weekend so I know the time of year you are talking about. It would be great if you could squeeze in a little trip. I'm not sure when we will make it back to Florida. The flight prices for next year are horrendous! I know I'm not going then but always good to keep an eye on flight prices. I would also like to try and have a little holiday around easter time here in the UK as its such a long way off til August.

I think that you should really look at pricing DLP and compare with the price of using DVC points. I have booked through the DLP website and staying in a Disney hotel the park tickets are included in the price and also breakfast. They usually have different deals on at different times of the year at the minute it is up to 30% off if travelling before a certain date. The deals for next August will not be available until next year. Also if you pay for the accomodation it also opens up the option of staying at hotels which are not onsite but only a short bus ride away (5-10 mins). We have also done this option and it is cheaper than staying onsite. If booked through the DLP website they are partner hotels and park tickets are included in the price but just check this. The buses are free and do a loop around a few hotels and come every 10 -15 minutes. Just like the Disney transport system in Florida. If I can be of any help with this just let me know.

 

[Anal Annie]

2009 is the year we were there over Memorial Day too!! The weather was pretty good but we did have some big storms. One evening we were going over to DTD to have dinner at T-Rex for DS's birthday & it started storming while we were on the bus. We got to DTD and it was POURING SO HARD and there was a TON of lightening - but we had to jump off the bus and run for it. We were SOAKED even with our ponchos & umbrellas. The water was literally so deep it was over our ankles and I was SURE we were about to be struck by lightening!! We froze to death in T-Rex 'cuz we were wet & the air conditioning was so cold!! But DS sure enjoyed looking around.

Sorry, I do not think any of those hotels will sleep 4 in 1 room but they might - you should email them to see maybe. Luke could use them since he is only traveling with his wife.... And maybe Justine...she's just 3 ppl right?! Never hurts to ask!!

I am sort of stuck about what to do about going to FL and Paris next year. Park tix for FL are crazy high (we usually buy AP's). We have 37 banked DVC points that have to be used by Nov. 2011 - those would cover approx. 1 night at Sequoia Lodge then we'd take the rest from our next years points that we get in Dec. But so we either have to use these 37 banked points at WDW or at DLP. The minimum req. stay at DLP on points is 2 nights with 3 days of park tix. I really wanted 4 nights in Paris as I figure our first day we will be so jet lagged we're worthless. BUT I only really wanted to plan 2 days at the parks - I want to go into the city too plus that LAST day we're really checked out & on our way to Barcelona. So I called DVC Member Services. There is a $95 exchange fee and the 3 days minimum tix (at current prices) would run us about $605 USD. But that leaves us short 2 nights stay. I don't really want to move hotels either but we COULD I guess move into the city somewhere?! That just seems like a waste of time for 2 nights though. Anyway, if we booked 4 nights on points we'd use about 134 pts. total and would have to buy 5 days of tix which would run about $1,105!!!!! Just for park tix because they don't offer any "specials" thru DVC!!! Meanwhile, I priced out a package at DLP at Sequoia & with their current incentive it was only $1,200!!! Inclusive!! So I don't know what we'll do yet but I am thinking if there's ANY WAY we can swing a trip to FL for next May I'd rather use our 37 points there (4 nights at Saratoga Springs will only cost us 66 points and 4 nights at Bay Lake would only use 70-some). Sigh. But so I got some more planning & thinking to do. Our points are definitely more valuable in FL though.

OH, and I tried to email DLP 2 times to ask if we could do a room only stay on cash but the website / email address isn't working. I wasn't for sure if the length of stay park tix was simply a DVC requirement or not? Anyway, I got an error / delivery failure both times. It LOOKS LIKE from the website that they simply don't allow room only stays. Do you know for sure?? If we could combine 2 nights on points with 2 nights on cash and only have to buy tix for the DVC nights that would be the best solution - but something tells me they won't let us do that.

 

[luke]

One great thing about the hotels at DLP is the walkability from the parks.
We stayed at Sequioa Lodge last new years eve, and its only about a 15 walk max frommm the parks.

However, they are definitely the poor relations of their Florida cousins in regard to quality (of rooms, public areas etc) and value (ridiculously expensive in comparison - we paid about $1800 for four nights at Sequoia Lodge over new year - compared to the about $2700 we paid for our 14 nights including length of stay park tickets (Inc hoppers and water parks) and dining at Saratoga Springs (love it there btw, our only onsite stay in Florida and definitely where we would stay again if going onsite) last month!!

Any other DLP questions too let me know, we tend to go there at least once a year and have stayed at every hotel, except the Disneyland Hotel

 

[Anal Annie]

One great thing about the hotels at DLP is the walkability from the parks.
We stayed at Sequioa Lodge last new years eve, and its only about a 15 walk max frommm the parks.

However, they are definitely the poor relations of their Florida cousins in regard to quality (of rooms, public areas etc) and value (ridiculously expensive in comparison - we paid about $1800 for four nights at Sequoia Lodge over new year - compared to the about $2700 we paid for our 14 nights including length of stay park tickets (Inc hoppers and water parks) and dining at Saratoga Springs (love it there btw, our only onsite stay in Florida and definitely where we would stay again if going onsite) last month!!

Any other DLP questions too let me know, we tend to go there at least once a year and have stayed at every hotel, except the Disneyland Hotel

Like poor country cousins 'eh?! I am quite sure that NYE at WDW would cost quite a bundle too!! We own at Saratoga but like to resort hop thru the DVC resorts. So far we have not yet stayed at Boardwalk Villas or the new Bay Lake Tower or the Treehouses at SSR. Our fav. 2 resorts so far are Beach Club Villas and Wilderness Lodge. You can walk to Epcot from Beach Club and go in a back entrance that is right at the start of the World Showcase which is pretty cool. Beach Club also has THE best pool on Disney property so DS loves it there. The Sequoia Lodge looks like a knock-off on Wilderness which we also love. At DLP our DVC points can only be used at Sequoia, Newport Bay (which looks similar to Beach Club) and Hotel NY. Of those 3 DLP resorts the Sequoia Lodge uses the least points which is why I was focused on staying there. Now...I don't know what to do though. The whole length of stay ticket thing puts a beeeeg crimp in my budget!! Now I need to go study the WDW ticket prices. It's been a long time since we bought regular tickets rather than an Annual Pass. But now I have to obsess over figuring out a way to get to FL next May!!

 

[jd99]

We were on the 11 night Med this summer and had a great time but lots of unfinished business in Italian ports so we are thinking of booking this sailing to combine with a planned trip to Greece to visit relatives. Nice to see an active thread already. We are sailing in November and will make the decision then about the dates but we keep coming back to this date as the best fit for our overall plan. Hope to get to know you all soon.

Jeff

PS - check out my trip report from our summer med sailing - not done yet but for those who haven't done any of these ports before it might offer some of what NOT to do from our experience!

 

[Anal Annie]

We were on the 11 night Med this summer and had a great time but lots of unfinished business in Italian ports so we are thinking of booking this sailing to combine with a planned trip to Greece to visit relatives. Nice to see an active thread already. We are sailing in November and will make the decision then about the dates but we keep coming back to this date as the best fit for our overall plan. Hope to get to know you all soon.

Jeff

PS - check out my trip report from our summer med sailing - not done yet but for those who haven't done any of these ports before it might offer some of what NOT to do from our experience!

Hola!! Think HARD about it!! I am the lone Yankee on this boat I think!! I will check out your trip report! You can't tease us and run now!!! You must come!!!

(PS) Just read your first post on your TR - you gonna use US Air again?!

 

[Kels Sem]

We were on the 11 night Med this summer and had a great time but lots of unfinished business in Italian ports so we are thinking of booking this sailing to combine with a planned trip to Greece to visit relatives. Nice to see an active thread already. We are sailing in November and will make the decision then about the dates but we keep coming back to this date as the best fit for our overall plan. Hope to get to know you all soon.

Jeff

PS - check out my trip report from our summer med sailing - not done yet but for those who haven't done any of these ports before it might offer some of what NOT to do from our experience!

Hi, I just finished reading your trip report and really enjoyed it. I hope that you decide to come along on this cruise.

Kelly

 

[Kels Sem]

Like poor country cousins 'eh?! I am quite sure that NYE at WDW would cost quite a bundle too!! We own at Saratoga but like to resort hop thru the DVC resorts. So far we have not yet stayed at Boardwalk Villas or the new Bay Lake Tower or the Treehouses at SSR. Our fav. 2 resorts so far are Beach Club Villas and Wilderness Lodge. You can walk to Epcot from Beach Club and go in a back entrance that is right at the start of the World Showcase which is pretty cool. Beach Club also has THE best pool on Disney property so DS loves it there. The Sequoia Lodge looks like a knock-off on Wilderness which we also love. At DLP our DVC points can only be used at Sequoia, Newport Bay (which looks similar to Beach Club) and Hotel NY. Of those 3 DLP resorts the Sequoia Lodge uses the least points which is why I was focused on staying there. Now...I don't know what to do though. The whole length of stay ticket thing puts a beeeeg crimp in my budget!! Now I need to go study the WDW ticket prices. It's been a long time since we bought regular tickets rather than an Annual Pass. But now I have to obsess over figuring out a way to get to FL next May!!

I had a look on the DLP website to see if you could book accomodation only but you could only book as part of a package. This was the uk site though. To buy the park tickets on their own is quite expensive but then again probably no more expensive than when I'm buying WDW tickets. I agree with Luke that any of the hotels you are looking at are within walking distance which is handy.
I know that you would probably prefer to stay in a disney hotel but you could price booking any of the off-site hotels directly with the hotel and then add the price of 2 day park tickets and then compare using your DVC and buying whole of stay park tickets. Although really might not work out much difference in the end.

 

[jd99]

Hola!! Think HARD about it!! I am the lone Yankee on this boat I think!! I will check out your trip report! You can't tease us and run now!!! You must come!!!

(PS) Just read your first post on your TR - you gonna use US Air again?!

LOL - not if we can help it - the problem is that with going to both Athens and Barcelona Useless air offers the best connections from home. I'll spend the next several months trying to find the best alternative!

 

[luke]

Well I'm gonna have to try and manage my finances a bit now, as a week after booking id cruise, I've gone and bought a new car today!!
Damn I feel pretty reckless!!!

 

[madmum63]

A Message to JD 99

Really enjoying your trip report. Looking forward to more. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Anal Annie]

Well I'm gonna have to try and manage my finances a bit now, as a week after booking id cruise, I've gone and bought a new car today!!
Damn I feel pretty reckless!!!

Congrats - that is always fun! Just don't be changing your mind about the cruise now!! I have 3 more payments to go on my SUV payment!! I can't WAIT for it to be done!! It is almost $600 / month and I financed it for 6 years!! BOY oh BOY do I have PLANS for that money!!! January - ski trip....February - DS's swim team payment.... Then finally in March I'm hoping to start puttting it toward vacation!!!

I was just tooodling around a little bit on Expedia for flights for next summer...still can't play with our return dates yet but so was playing with some July dates - just for fun! Anybody wanna guess how much it is to fly First Class on Air France from Washington, DC to Paris and from Paris to Barcelona then back to DC?! It was OVER $15,000 per person!!! $45,000 for the 3 of us!!

 

[luke]

Plus you wouldn't get true first class from Paris to Barcelona I don't think.

No we won't be backing out, hopefully Paula has worked out the finances correctly for both cruising and new Nissans

 

[Anal Annie]

Alright Jeff - just finished reading your TR - great info. & great pics!! Malta looked GORGEOUS! I really wanted to go there the most out of the 3 ports we lost when DCL switched the August cruises to 7 nights. I hope Majorca makes up for it!! (Still waiting on Justine to report back from her trip there this summer!)

I had already been thinking that we should plan for private tours / cars in Rome & Naples as I want to "see it all" and don't want to be on a bus or on someone else's schedule! Want to see the Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Vatican (Sistine Chapel is optional). In Naples I want to see both Pompei AND the Amalfi Coast / Sorrento. For LaSpezia I hadn't decided yet...would like to see Pisa & heard Florence makes for a loooong day...BIL suggested the town of Lucca as being a really nice town to visit. (He was stationed in Germany for awhile & managed to get thru a LOT of Europe while he was there & he said it's a really nice place.) Don't know if we could do both Pisa and Lucca if we don't do a private tour. There IS a private tour offered for Lucca & Florence...but then that doesn't get us to Pisa. So then the choice is Pisa & Florence combined. OR of course, there is Cinque Terre!! Oh My!!! Choices, choices!!

http://www.romeinlimo.com/cinque-terre-liguria.htm

http://www.romeinlimo.com/pisa-florence.htm

http://www.romeinlimo.com/port-la-spezia.htm

romeinlimo offers private tours in all 3 ports and I am going to email them to see if they may offer discounts for booking excursions in all 3 ports (maybe). I am really hoping we can find another family to share with on one or two so we could all cut down costs & take advantage of the savings. In Rome a Mercedes for 4 people runs about 500 Euro (about $650) and a minivan for up to 8 people runs 550 Euro and a van for 8 people is 600 Euro. Makes sense to me to hook up with someone else who is interested in the same things & book it together & split up the cost!! I'd just as soon split 600 Euro with another family as pay 500 Euro for just us!!!!!!

http://www.romeinlimo.com/rome.htm

Or should we skip the Vatican and visit the Catacombs?!

http://www.romeinlimo.com/kid/rome-highlights.htm

For Naples I think Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast / Sorrento is a must do for us: http://www.romeinlimo.com/naples.htm They also offer a tour of Pompeii, Sorrento & Capri (but I guess that skips the Amalfi coast. I have read that the boat ride to Capri can be rough. Anybody else know about that?? http://www.romeinlimo.com/pompeii-sorrento-capri.htm


If any of ya'll are intersted in hiring private tours in any of the ports let me know & we'll see if we can agree on which ones!! I'd much rather spend $1,200 than $2,400 for these 3 ports!!!!

 

[Kels Sem]

Well I'm gonna have to try and manage my finances a bit now, as a week after booking id cruise, I've gone and bought a new car today!!
Damn I feel pretty reckless!!!

Good on you! I bought a new car last month so I know how you feel! Enjoy driving it

 

[jd99]

Alright Jeff - just finished reading your TR - great info. & great pics!! Malta looked GORGEOUS! I really wanted to go there the most out of the 3 ports we lost when DCL switched the August cruises to 7 nights. I hope Majorca makes up for it!! (Still waiting on Justine to report back from her trip there this summer!)

I had already been thinking that we should plan for private tours / cars in Rome & Naples as I want to "see it all" and don't want to be on a bus or on someone else's schedule! Want to see the Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Vatican (Sistine Chapel is optional). In Naples I want to see both Pompei AND the Amalfi Coast / Sorrento. For LaSpezia I hadn't decided yet...would like to see Pisa & heard Florence makes for a loooong day...BIL suggested the town of Lucca as being a really nice town to visit. (He was stationed in Germany for awhile & managed to get thru a LOT of Europe while he was there & he said it's a really nice place.) Don't know if we could do both Pisa and Lucca if we don't do a private tour. There IS a private tour offered for Lucca & Florence...but then that doesn't get us to Pisa. So then the choice is Pisa & Florence combined. OR of course, there is Cinque Terre!! Oh My!!! Choices, choices!!

http://www.romeinlimo.com/cinque-terre-liguria.htm

http://www.romeinlimo.com/pisa-florence.htm

http://www.romeinlimo.com/port-la-spezia.htm

romeinlimo offers private tours in all 3 ports and I am going to email them to see if they may offer discounts for booking excursions in all 3 ports (maybe). I am really hoping we can find another family to share with on one or two so we could all cut down costs & take advantage of the savings. In Rome a Mercedes for 4 people runs about 500 Euro (about $650) and a minivan for up to 8 people runs 550 Euro and a van for 8 people is 600 Euro. Makes sense to me to hook up with someone else who is interested in the same things & book it together & split up the cost!! I'd just as soon split 600 Euro with another family as pay 500 Euro for just us!!!!!!

http://www.romeinlimo.com/rome.htm

Or should we skip the Vatican and visit the Catacombs?!

http://www.romeinlimo.com/kid/rome-highlights.htm

For Naples I think Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast / Sorrento is a must do for us: http://www.romeinlimo.com/naples.htm They also offer a tour of Pompeii, Sorrento & Capri (but I guess that skips the Amalfi coast. I have read that the boat ride to Capri can be rough. Anybody else know about that?? http://www.romeinlimo.com/pompeii-sorrento-capri.htm


If any of ya'll are intersted in hiring private tours in any of the ports let me know & we'll see if we can agree on which ones!! I'd much rather spend $1,200 than $2,400 for these 3 ports!!!!

I will say that the Rome excursion we did was perfect - perfectly planned and timed with a great lunch thrown in. It was Jumping back into Eternal Rome and used an express train to get us there from the port instead of the bus -saving at least 30 minutes each way. We did get to see everything on your list (not the Sistine Chapel) and it really was perfect.

 

[Anal Annie]

I heard back from the romeinlimo people today - we emailed back & forth a couple of times. Sounds like they're very willing to customize tours and offer approximately a 10% discount if we book them in all 3 ports!! I asked them how early we should book & they said no later than 5-6 months out as they CAN book up. So knowing ME I will probably want to book at like 8 months!! I am not thinking of using DCL much at all. I just really don't want to be on a bus of those "entitlted" people as you called them in your trip report. I want to be on our own pee break & lunch schedule. I mean, DCL is STILL quite expensive aren't they? And with them you pay per person. The private guys charge per car / van. So I figure it's worth it to be able to have our own thing. Don't know how long it takes by car rather than by high speed train to get into Rome?! But just the idea of not being on THEIR schedule is appealing to me.

BTW, how hot was it in August?! I've heard it will be very hot but you guys didn't look like you were miserable in your pics!!!!

 

[jd99]

I heard back from the romeinlimo people today - we emailed back & forth a couple of times. Sounds like they're very willing to customize tours and offer approximately a 10% discount if we book them in all 3 ports!! I asked them how early we should book & they said no later than 5-6 months out as they CAN book up. So knowing ME I will probably want to book at like 8 months!! I am not thinking of using DCL much at all. I just really don't want to be on a bus of those "entitlted" people as you called them in your trip report. I want to be on our own pee break & lunch schedule. I mean, DCL is STILL quite expensive aren't they? And with them you pay per person. The private guys charge per car / van. So I figure it's worth it to be able to have our own thing. Don't know how long it takes by car rather than by high speed train to get into Rome?! But just the idea of not being on THEIR schedule is appealing to me.

BTW, how hot was it in August?! I've heard it will be very hot but you guys didn't look like you were miserable in your pics!!!!

I agree with you because even though our Rome tour was GREAT, it's a crap shoot based on the group on your tour and the guides. I'd like to do more on our own when we return. We may do the DCL trasnportation into Rome and Florence and then go off on our own since we kind of know what we want to see now.

It wasn't really that hot - even in Tunis. But when we were waiting in line at the Vatican it was probably the hottest time of the trip - toward the end of a long day...

 

[luke]

Good on you! I bought a new car last month so I know how you feel! Enjoy driving it

It's the smell that's the best part

Got my date to pick it up brought forward to this Friday too, so spent hours on the phone to the insurance company changing it onto my new car, because they had no way on there system to quote for a Nissan Juke!! (it doesn't officially get released till Friday)