August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[Kels Sem]

We are now leaning towards the disney transport to Florence and then do it yourself. Feeling nervous about missing boat otherwise! So next to decide about Pompeii and if we want to do any other sightseeing round there. Meantime I have also booked flights to go back to Florida in January and escape the winter weather!

Lucky you! I'm planning next year's trip to Florida in my head! I'll have to save, save, save.

 

[Kels Sem]

Hi Lee-Ann, I was having a little look at Palma myself. it looks like the pier we will probably dock at in Palma is about 4 miles away from the centre but there should be plenty of taxi's available.
I have vague memories of going to Playa de Palma on holiday as a child so I googled it and it seems to be the beach for Palma According to the website it's about 5 mins drive from Palma and it looks like it will have all the facilities you would be looking for and it's a nice white sandy beach. I still have haven't heard back from my cousin but I will check with her if I'm right. It might be worth having a look at in the meantime but we still have plenty of time to find out.

I have also seen a lovely shirt and tie for DS for formal night. I must go and buy it as knowing my luck if I leave it much longer they won't have any left but like you I'm worried about how much he'll grow

 

[mikki.young]

YAY! FL in January!! We went down once in January a few years ago - it's a fantastic winter get-a-way! Where will you stay???

Haven't decided yet. We will be on DVC points. Home resort is OKW but really don't like the new refurb there. Will be looking at splitting between BLT, Kidani and Villas at Wilderness Lodge. See what we can get! Going for just under 3 weeks stay so will almost certainly move around a bit.

 

[west&east]

I am stunned. I just compared the Disney shore excursion for "Best of Rome" with the similar Rome Highlights offered by Rome in Limo.
For our family of 4, Disney would cost $1276. Using Rome in Limo with our friends for a group of 8 would be 600 euros total or about $425 per family. Disney does include lunch and admission to the sites but that does not approach the $850 dollar difference! The reviews of Rome in Limo on cruise critic are fabulous so I think this will be the way we go for at least Rome and maybe the other Italy ports as well. How does Disney get away with such extremely overinflated prices?

 

[Anal Annie]

I am stunned. I just compared the Disney shore excursion for "Best of Rome" with the similar Rome Highlights offered by Rome in Limo.
For our family of 4, Disney would cost $1276. Using Rome in Limo with our friends for a group of 8 would be 600 euros total or about $425 per family. Disney does include lunch and admission to the sites but that does not approach the $850 dollar difference! The reviews of Rome in Limo on cruise critic are fabulous so I think this will be the way we go for at least Rome and maybe the other Italy ports as well. How does Disney get away with such extremely overinflated prices?

Karen - I have yet to read a single negative comment about romeinlimo on either the DIS or on Cruise Critic!! That's why we booked them for both Rome & Naples...they offer a 50 euro discount for booking in more than 1 port too!! They are extremely pricey for just the 3 of us but I felt the price was comparable to what we would've spent with DCL for similar itineraries. I had hoped there would be more peeps interested in sharing but that didn't materialize so I booked them anyway to be sure to grab a spot. We booked the "Highlights of Rome" and "Pompeii, Sorrento & Positano" plus the private guides for the Coliseum, the Vatican and Pompeii. It works out to be 1200 euro or currently about $1,700 USD. I worked out that DCL was going to run us $987 for the Best of Rome and $537 for Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast. So it is not necessarily going to be a lot cheaper BUT it will be more customized & certainly more private than a bus tour. We can go at our own pace, eat wherever we want, pee whenever we want and probably see more in less time than with DCL.

I am a little bummed tho as the conversion rate between the dollar & the euro keeps getting worse!! It is higher today than ever. romeinlimo gave me the option to pay in full by credit card by the end of March rather than to wait & pay in cash or via travelers checks in August. I was thinking about doing this so we could save on how much cash we'll need to have on us later... but I just looked at the rate & the darned thing has gone up so much that everything that I haven't already paid in full is going to cost us sooo much more!! This bill for romeinlimo alone is running somewhere between $50-100 more than it WAS just a few weeks ago when I booked them!! I am glad I paid the Novotel's non-refundable rate too - our room has gone up from $146 to $154 with the higher rate!! Now I wish I'd gone ahead & paid for the Hotel Jazz & our other hotel in Paris up front. (The DLP pkg. is paid in full as were the transfers that I booked in Paris so those are safe.) I suppose it's all a gamble as to whether the conversion rate will drop back any more or not before March 31?! It seems that lately it only goes UP! Grrrrrrr! It's like buying airfare!!!

(PS) Did you see that DCL offers a private boat charter for Naples for a mere $5,500?!

 

[Anal Annie]

Haven't decided yet. We will be on DVC points. Home resort is OKW but really don't like the new refurb there. Will be looking at splitting between BLT, Kidani and Villas at Wilderness Lodge. See what we can get! Going for just under 3 weeks stay so will almost certainly move around a bit.

WOW! 3 weeks!! We haven't tried BLT yet - we always just use studios & toured the models & felt that the studio at BLT was teeeeeny tiny & didn't like the layout with the way they combined the bathroom sink into the kitchenette area. We will definitely have to save BLT for a shorter trip so we don't kill each other! But we LOVE VWL - that is especially nice in the winter with all the fireplaces & woodsy decor!! We stayed at Kidani last March & decided we liked Jambo House a lot more. OKW is our least fav. so far.... I think BCV and VWL are our 2 favs so far with SSR not too far behind. We like AKV a lot too - especially for the points and we LOVE eating at Boma!! Sounds like a fun trip to plan!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Ooops! Double post!

 

[Anal Annie]

Hi Lee-Ann, I was having a little look at Palma myself. it looks like the pier we will probably dock at in Palma is about 4 miles away from the centre but there should be plenty of taxi's available.
I have vague memories of going to Playa de Palma on holiday as a child so I googled it and it seems to be the beach for Palma According to the website it's about 5 mins drive from Palma and it looks like it will have all the facilities you would be looking for and it's a nice white sandy beach. I still have haven't heard back from my cousin but I will check with her if I'm right. It might be worth having a look at in the meantime but we still have plenty of time to find out.

I have also seen a lovely shirt and tie for DS for formal night. I must go and buy it as knowing my luck if I leave it much longer they won't have any left but like you I'm worried about how much he'll grow

I am going to look into the idea of a snorkeling excursion on Malloraca too!! Just as another option. There are several dive places but we don't dive (yet) and I don't think I can afford to get certified before we go. I am just looking for a place that might do a snorkeling trip. Our local dive shop does scuba certification classes at one of the pools where DS swims and here a few weeks ago they were over in the diving well doing a class (all were underwater) and DS's coach didn't realize they were still there & he sent the kids over to the well to practice diving & the well was full of scuba divers! It was pretty funny to see the kids all stop short when they got over there.

 

[west&east]

Karen - I have yet to read a single negative comment about romeinlimo on either the DIS or on Cruise Critic!! That's why we booked them for both Rome & Naples...they offer a 50 euro discount for booking in more than 1 port too!! They are extremely pricey for just the 3 of us but I felt the price was comparable to what we would've spent with DCL for similar itineraries. I had hoped there would be more peeps interested in sharing but that didn't materialize so I booked them anyway to be sure to grab a spot. We booked the "Highlights of Rome" and "Pompeii, Sorrento & Positano" plus the private guides for the Coliseum, the Vatican and Pompeii. It works out to be 1200 euro or currently about $1,700 USD. I worked out that DCL was going to run us $987 for the Best of Rome and $537 for Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast. So it is not necessarily going to be a lot cheaper BUT it will be more customized & certainly more private than a bus tour. We can go at our own pace, eat wherever we want, pee whenever we want and probably see more in less time than with DCL.

I am a little bummed tho as the conversion rate between the dollar & the euro keeps getting worse!! It is higher today than ever. romeinlimo gave me the option to pay in full by credit card by the end of March rather than to wait & pay in cash or via travelers checks in August. I was thinking about doing this so we could save on how much cash we'll need to have on us later... but I just looked at the rate & the darned thing has gone up so much that everything that I haven't already paid in full is going to cost us sooo much more!! This bill for romeinlimo alone is running somewhere between $50-100 more than it WAS just a few weeks ago when I booked them!! I am glad I paid the Novotel's non-refundable rate too - our room has gone up from $146 to $154 with the higher rate!! Now I wish I'd gone ahead & paid for the Hotel Jazz & our other hotel in Paris up front. (The DLP pkg. is paid in full as were the transfers that I booked in Paris so those are safe.) I suppose it's all a gamble as to whether the conversion rate will drop back any more or not before March 31?! It seems that lately it only goes UP! Grrrrrrr! It's like buying airfare!!!

(PS) Did you see that DCL offers a private boat charter for Naples for a mere $5,500?!

Also saw a private cooking class that was in the thousands!
Hadn't really thought about the changing conversion rate for the euro. I guess we can hope for some more economic turmoil in Europe that will send it back down!
I also saw all the great reviews on cruise critic for romeinlimo. Cruise critic is a great site for port info but disboards is better for DCL specifically.
I got delayed booking our hotel (Hotel Regina) because of being sick and the prices have gone up a bunch too. I went ahead and reserved it but didn't have to prepay. They do have a deal where you can save 10% or so for prepaying but we have up to 21 days before to do it so I am going to just keep my eyes open for that.
I hope you eventually find someone to share your tours with. It will be a big money saver for you if you can. We will probably be following in your footsteps with the Naples tour. Now that I am in the swing of planning, I am bombarding my friend with info and waiting for her to get back to me with her input.

 

[west&east]

WOW! 3 weeks!! We haven't tried BLT yet - we always just use studios & toured the models & felt that the studio at BLT was teeeeeny tiny & didn't like the layout with the way they combined the bathroom sink into the kitchenette area. We will definitely have to save BLT for a shorter trip so we don't kill each other! But we LOVE VWL - that is especially nice in the winter with all the fireplaces & woodsy decor!! We stayed at Kidani last March & decided we liked Jambo House a lot more. OKW is our least fav. so far.... I think BCV and VWL are our 2 favs so far with SSR not too far behind. We like AKV a lot too - especially for the points and we LOVE eating at Boma!! Sounds like a fun trip to plan!!

Love, love, love Boma for breakfast and dinner! Only ate there though when we stated at AKL. Never was able to take the trek out there when we stayed elsewhere but next time we go, I'm going to make it a priority. Beach Club is my new favorite place to stay.

 

[mikki.young]

We used to love OKW - the wow factor back in 92 when you walked into the one bedroom was awesome. We always stayed in a one bed there because of the space. We haven't had a lot of luck with beach Club - stayed in a 1 bed and the room number was missing from the hall signs (thankfully a cleaner helped us find it!) and when we stayed in a studio the noise from the plumbing was awful all night. BLT we lucked out with a one bed on the same floor as the lounge so could walk straight in. We got better views from the room at Kidani than Jambo and liked the Sanaa restaurant too but also enjoy Boma and Jiko - all good reasons to stay there!

Annie - are you still looking for sharers for the Pompeii and Amalfi coast section or are you fixed in what you are getting? We may be interested in joining with you if it worked for you.

 

[Anal Annie]

We used to love OKW - the wow factor back in 92 when you walked into the one bedroom was awesome. We always stayed in a one bed there because of the space. We haven't had a lot of luck with beach Club - stayed in a 1 bed and the room number was missing from the hall signs (thankfully a cleaner helped us find it!) and when we stayed in a studio the noise from the plumbing was awful all night. BLT we lucked out with a one bed on the same floor as the lounge so could walk straight in. We got better views from the room at Kidani than Jambo and liked the Sanaa restaurant too but also enjoy Boma and Jiko - all good reasons to stay there!

Annie - are you still looking for sharers for the Pompeii and Amalfi coast section or are you fixed in what you are getting? We may be interested in joining with you if it worked for you.

Our first ever DVC stay was at OKW...we ended up in the furthest building in the Miller's Road section. The schlep to the main pool was HORRID in August!! By the time we walked back to our villa we were all hot & sweaty. The buses were s-l-o-w and our unit had several maintenance things that needed attention. It was a huge let down for our first DVC stay. We haven't had the desire to go back. DH has a friend at his work who ALWAYS stays there tho and he LOVES it. We have eaten at Boma, Sanaa and Jiko...Boma remains our absolute FAVORITE and we almost always find a way to get over there to eat. (I think Jiko is WAAY overpriced.) ANYWAY.....

I went shopping today - bought my first pair of Spanx and a little dress for semi-formal night!! Then I immediately went to McDonald's for lunch to celebrate the Spanx!! I specifically looked for something LIGHTWEIGHT and mostly POLYESTER to save on weight and wrinkles!! I tried on about 6 other dresses before I settled on this one. I am wearing a simple all black dress for formal night and this one is black too but with a couple of REALLY BIG blue & teal flowers on it. Both are short - I'm not getting TOO fancy. I can wear the same pair of heels with both.

Mikki - I can still change how many people are on our reservation with romeinlimo. I told them when I booked that if I found someone to share with that I might need a bigger vehicle & they said that was fine. I don't know if you've studied their vehicle / person pricing or their tours yet?! We booked the one they call Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano. We also added a private guide for Pompeii for an additional 100 euro. Their pre-discounted price for a sedan with up to 2 people was orig. 450 euro and up to 4 people 500 euro. Then they go up to 550 euro for 5-6 people so if you & Andrew want to do this with us it would be a total of 600 euro after their discount - if we split it then it would be 300 euro each + probably about 10% in tips for the driver & guide... So think about it, talk to Andrew & let me know. I think I am going to go ahead & prepay for what we have booked so far before the end of the month just because I am trying to avoid having to get all that cash to carry around...but like I said, they told me we can still change it later if our situation changes.

http://www.romeinlimo.com/naples/pompeii-sorrento-positano.htm

 

[Anal Annie]

ARRRRRR!! It's offically been 24 hours with no peeps posting!!

So what's going on with everyone?! I did some more shopping today. I need to control myself or I'll never get everything into 1 suitcase!!! I got a couple of casual tops, a couple pair of shorts & a new pair of black capris (my old ones were too tight)

It got freaking cold here again!! I can't believe a week ago it was 70's and now we're having lows in the 20's at night again!! Maybe snow on Sunday. It's like NEVER snowed here THAT late in March!!

I emailed a dive place on Mallorca to see what their deal was with snorkeling excursions & they answered me that they include snorkelers on their 3:00 pm boat for 3 hours. I think that's cutting it too late for comfort by the time they return. There are a couple of other places I still need to contact. Does anybody else snorkel?!

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

ARRRRRR!! It's offically been 24 hours with no peeps posting!!

So what's going on with everyone?! I did some more shopping today. I need to control myself or I'll never get everything into 1 suitcase!!! I got a couple of casual tops, a couple pair of shorts & a new pair of black capris (my old ones were too tight)

It got freaking cold here again!! I can't believe a week ago it was 70's and now we're having lows in the 20's at night again!! Maybe snow on Sunday. It's like NEVER snowed here THAT late in March!!

I emailed a dive place on Mallorca to see what their deal was with snorkeling excursions & they answered me that they include snorkelers on their 3:00 pm boat for 3 hours. I think that's cutting it too late for comfort by the time they return. There are a couple of other places I still need to contact. Does anybody else snorkel?!

Hi Annie were back from DLP we had a fantastic time, we spoilt Aaron we had dinner at the Disneyland Hotel restaurant called Inventions on our first night the food was outstanding and with loads of characters rotating
We had lunch at the Lucky Nugget Saloon in Frontierland character dining
Lunch at the Walt disney studios Restaurant des stars with chef Remy
Our last day yesterday we went to cafe mickey and had a lovely steak
The sun was out no rain in sight, we managed to do most rides queues were not that bad max time 30 mins. You can download a map of the park, we was ticking off as we went along, thought of you lol
My husband is a qualified diver he does rescue and recovery for the police in spare time, will try and get him to come along snorkeling with you guys

 

[mikki.young]

I'm talking to Andrew about the pompeii etc tour. I like the sound of it, just need to get some commitment from him! I also enjoy snorkelling even though I haven't done that much. Might do some in Bermuda in May!

 

[jd99]

We are now leaning towards the disney transport to Florence and then do it yourself. Feeling nervous about missing boat otherwise! So next to decide about Pompeii and if we want to do any other sightseeing round there. Meantime I have also booked flights to go back to Florida in January and escape the winter weather!

We are definitely doing that in Florence. We did an excursion last year that was an unmitigated disaster and we didnt get to see as much of Florence as we wanted. So this year we are definitely taking the transportation but doing it on our own. It's such a long trip that we don't want to take the chance of using private transport and missing the ship. On a 7 night cruise, having to catch up with the ship - no matter how close - would really eat into the vacation.

Last year we did Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast for families (it had the pizza making for kids). We loved it but missed Pompeii and Capri. There is an excursion that does all three but not the LOOOOONG ride down the Amalfi Coast so we are planning on that. or perhaps just the one that does Pompeii and Sorrento.

 

[jd99]

WOW! 3 weeks!! We haven't tried BLT yet - we always just use studios & toured the models & felt that the studio at BLT was teeeeeny tiny & didn't like the layout with the way they combined the bathroom sink into the kitchenette area. We will definitely have to save BLT for a shorter trip so we don't kill each other! But we LOVE VWL - that is especially nice in the winter with all the fireplaces & woodsy decor!! We stayed at Kidani last March & decided we liked Jambo House a lot more. OKW is our least fav. so far.... I think BCV and VWL are our 2 favs so far with SSR not too far behind. We like AKV a lot too - especially for the points and we LOVE eating at Boma!! Sounds like a fun trip to plan!!

When we were at WDW in January, one of the DVC people told us they are remodeling some (or all) of the studios to move a wall so the sink is in the bathroom, not kitchen.

By the way, I don't remember if I mentioned it here but our TA was able to get the Hotel Arts to allow us four in a room which makes it a much more affordable option than having to book 2 rooms - and on par with booking two rooms at some of the other hotels. It's a beautiful property so we are going to book there for our one night in Barcelona. Now we just have to make a decision about our two nights in Athens before the cruise - Hotel Electra Palace (at a relatively reasonable cost) or spring for the Grand Bretagne - any of our European friends have any experience with the Electra Palace?

 

[Anal Annie]

Hi Annie were back from DLP we had a fantastic time, we spoilt Aaron we had dinner at the Disneyland Hotel restaurant called Inventions on our first night the food was outstanding and with loads of characters rotating
We had lunch at the Lucky Nugget Saloon in Frontierland character dining
Lunch at the Walt disney studios Restaurant des stars with chef Remy
Our last day yesterday we went to cafe mickey and had a lovely steak
The sun was out no rain in sight, we managed to do most rides queues were not that bad max time 30 mins. You can download a map of the park, we was ticking off as we went along, thought of you lol
My husband is a qualified diver he does rescue and recovery for the police in spare time, will try and get him to come along snorkeling with you guys

Hi - welcome back! Glad you had a good trip! It is so fun to spoil the kiddos at Disney when they're little. They have so much fun with the characters... Now DS has outgrown them for the most part. No more standing in line for autographs. I haven't booked any sit-down TS dinners for DLP. I just don't know that we'd have time or where to go since we only have 1 night / 2 days there. I figured we'd be better off winging it with CS meals... I am still concerned with how we'll deal with our jet lag...someone told me if we go to bed TOO early that first night we'll just wake up at like 2:00 am & will never be able to sleep cycle.

We don't dive - your DH might be bored with with just snorkeling?! It's something we've always SAID we were going to do but never got around to. We DO like to snorkel tho and have our own masks, snorkels & fins so we might be able to bring them & just go off-shore somewhere... I'm still researching the idea to see if Palmanova Beach would offer a decent try at it. I went to the bookstore again a couple days ago to look for guide books on Mallorca. I found 3 small ones but I just looked thru them, didn't buy any. Each one had a couple of pages dedicated to beaches - Top 10 kind of thing... NONE of them listed the same ones!! I guess there are about 80 beaches on Mallorca and apparently there are 30 in the top 10!!

I'm talking to Andrew about the pompeii etc tour. I like the sound of it, just need to get some commitment from him! I also enjoy snorkelling even though I haven't done that much. Might do some in Bermuda in May!

OK - there is time to change it later. I am going to email romeinlimo this weekend because I am going to use a different CC to pay them up front next week than the one I used to secure the ressie...I need to know how I go about changing cards. I can mention to them again that I may find someone to share with...

When we were at WDW in January, one of the DVC people told us they are remodeling some (or all) of the studios to move a wall so the sink is in the bathroom, not kitchen.

By the way, I don't remember if I mentioned it here but our TA was able to get the Hotel Arts to allow us four in a room which makes it a much more affordable option than having to book 2 rooms - and on par with booking two rooms at some of the other hotels. It's a beautiful property so we are going to book there for our one night in Barcelona. Now we just have to make a decision about our two nights in Athens before the cruise - Hotel Electra Palace (at a relatively reasonable cost) or spring for the Grand Bretagne - any of our European friends have any experience with the Electra Palace?

I guess I remember reading something about the bathroom sink changes on the DVC boards at some point. I forgot. Or I didn't know if it was true or if they'd started the renovations. That was a real bonehead design they did.Congrats on your swanky hotel deal. OoooLaLa!! So is it your relatives in Athens or DW's or both?! I guess Greece will remain on my to see list along with Tahiti for quite awhile yet!!

 

[Joanne Hollyoak]

Hi - welcome back! Glad you had a good trip! It is so fun to spoil the kiddos at Disney when they're little. They have so much fun with the characters... Now DS has outgrown them for the most part. No more standing in line for autographs. I haven't booked any sit-down TS dinners for DLP. I just don't know that we'd have time or where to go since we only have 1 night / 2 days there. I figured we'd be better off winging it with CS meals... I am still concerned with how we'll deal with our jet lag...someone told me if we go to bed TOO early that first night we'll just wake up at like 2:00 am & will never be able to sleep cycle.

We don't dive - your DH might be bored with with just snorkeling?! It's something we've always SAID we were going to do but never got around to. We DO like to snorkel tho and have our own masks, snorkels & fins so we might be able to bring them & just go off-shore somewhere... I'm still researching the idea to see if Palmanova Beach would offer a decent try at it. I went to the bookstore again a couple days ago to look for guide books on Mallorca. I found 3 small ones but I just looked thru them, didn't buy any. Each one had a couple of pages dedicated to beaches - Top 10 kind of thing... NONE of them listed the same ones!! I guess there are about 80 beaches on Mallorca and apparently there are 30 in the top 10!!



OK - there is time to change it later. I am going to email romeinlimo this weekend because I am going to use a different CC to pay them up front next week than the one I used to secure the ressie...I need to know how I go about changing cards. I can mention to them again that I may find someone to share with...



I guess I remember reading something about the bathroom sink changes on the DVC boards at some point. I forgot. Or I didn't know if it was true or if they'd started the renovations. That was a real bonehead design they did.Congrats on your swanky hotel deal. OoooLaLa!! So is it your relatives in Athens or DW's or both?! I guess Greece will remain on my to see list along with Tahiti for quite awhile yet!!

Hi have just put some photos on Facebook of DLP if you want to take a look, not sure how to put photos on here so if any other peeps want to have a look just request me as a friend using my full name on FB

 

[jd99]

I guess I remember reading something about the bathroom sink changes on the DVC boards at some point. I forgot. Or I didn't know if it was true or if they'd started the renovations. That was a real bonehead design they did.Congrats on your swanky hotel deal. OoooLaLa!! So is it your relatives in Athens or DW's or both?! I guess Greece will remain on my to see list along with Tahiti for quite awhile yet!!

My wife's family is from a Greek island. We are going there for a week (first time for me and the kids) before heading to Athens for 2 nights for sighteeing, then on to Barcelona and the cruise. Starting to get pretty excited now that almost all the elements are in place!