August 18, 2010...Can't wait for the MAGICal Mediterranean!!!

[jel0511]

Hi jel0511,

I see you just came back from st. john. hope you had a great time. we are cruising on the oasis for springbreak next year. one of the stops is st. thomas. do you have any recommendations for things to do on st john or st thomas?

thanks, ellen

Hi Ellen, sorry I missed this.... Personally, I love St. John, but it is a trek to get there for a day trip. Until our Eastern Magic cruise in August, we never had gone to St. Thomas except to get on the plane!!!!!! In August, since we knew going back to St. John in Nov, we decided to go to Megans Bay. Megans Bay is beautiful, though not as pretty as my favorite beaches on St. John, but a good subsitute. If you're willing to spend about 1 1/2 hours each way, head to St. John and go to Cinnamon Bay there. It has facilities like Trunk, but doesn't get as crowded. Personally if we were to take another Eastern, we'd head to Megans Bay again and have time for shopping, but again I like the shopping in St. Martin much better.

 

[jel0511]

I am very excited for some of these as well! Dh and I are really thinking about the cooking school in Tuscany!

Does anyone know of private drivers for Naples? How much do these drivers typically cost? I like the Pompeii/ Amalfi excursion but thought it would be much cooler to do it privately.

Mary the gentleman we have booked the private tours with for Rome and Florence/Pisa also has private tours from Naples. Here is his website, click on shore excursions to get the list. http://www.limoinrome.com/services.php?service=excursions#nogo

 

[ejw]

Hi Ellen, sorry I missed this.... Personally, I love St. John, but it is a trek to get there for a day trip. Until our Eastern Magic cruise in August, we never had gone to St. Thomas except to get on the plane!!!!!! In August, since we knew going back to St. John in Nov, we decided to go to Megans Bay. Megans Bay is beautiful, though not as pretty as my favorite beaches on St. John, but a good subsitute. If you're willing to spend about 1 1/2 hours each way, head to St. John and go to Cinnamon Bay there. It has facilities like Trunk, but doesn't get as crowded. Personally if we were to take another Eastern, we'd head to Megans Bay again and have time for shopping, but again I like the shopping in St. Martin much better.

Hi jel0511, thanks for the info. we have to decide if we want to stay in st. thomas or take the trek to st. john. i've read good reviews on both megans bay and cinnamon bay. we're going to be docked at st. thomas for the whole day so we would have the time for travel to st. john. we are also stopping at st. maarten and i booked a snorkeling trip for us there.

ellen

 

[MinnieDiva]

A day late (worked yesterday, doing ours today), but happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Kim

 

[ejw]

To all of you looking for Barcelona Hotels, I made ressies yesterday at Hotel Rívoli Ramblas. It got good reviews here on the DIS and two rooms cost me only 280 EUR!!! The pictures look nice and for one night pre/post cruise look o.k. to me!!! I still have my Le Meridien ressies, will prob cancel them due to price.

Hi jel0511, after reading your post i went to rivoli ramblas website and booked a triple room for 175 euros. it's a good rate and loved the fact that they have triple rooms. the hotel got good reviews on tripadvisor. I saw that they also have the special offer of 10% early booking with free breakfast but was not comfortable with paying now and no chance of refund.
I also have a ressie with le meridien at 199 euros. another hotel to check out is hotel montecarlo. they are rated #1 on tripadvisor. got a rate of 165 euros for the night but had to add an extra 45 euros for the extra bed.

ellen

 

[pixie08]

Mary the gentleman we have booked the private tours with for Rome and Florence/Pisa also has private tours from Naples. Here is his website, click on shore excursions to get the list. http://www.limoinrome.com/services.php?service=excursions#nogo

Great...thanks so much!

 

[jel0511]

Hi jel0511, after reading your post i went to rivoli ramblas website and booked a triple room for 175 euros. it's a good rate and loved the fact that they have triple rooms. the hotel got good reviews on tripadvisor. I saw that they also have the special offer of 10% early booking with free breakfast but was not comfortable with paying now and no chance of refund.
I also have a ressie with le meridien at 199 euros. another hotel to check out is hotel montecarlo. they are rated #1 on tripadvisor. got a rate of 165 euros for the night but had to add an extra 45 euros for the extra bed.

ellen

Thanks Ellen, but we need a quad room, so two rooms are necessary for us. I just think we'll stick with the Rivoli.

 

[jel0511]

Hi jel0511, thanks for the info. we have to decide if we want to stay in st. thomas or take the trek to st. john. i've read good reviews on both megans bay and cinnamon bay. we're going to be docked at st. thomas for the whole day so we would have the time for travel to st. john. we are also stopping at st. maarten and i booked a snorkeling trip for us there.

ellen

Ellen it can be done, getting to St. John and returning in one day. I don't know what line you'll be on but I know on DCL you're in port only until 4:45. If you get off the ship as soon as it is cleared, you'll probably make the 9AM ferry from Red Hook. They've reduced the downtown ferry service to only 3 each way per day, so not as reliable and the earliest one leaves downtown at 10AM.
Anyway, with the Red Hook ferry you'll be on St. John by 9:30 and on the beach by 10. You'll have about 3-4 hours before you have to pack up and start the trek back. The ferry (Red Hook one) runs every hour on the hour and it's a 20-30 min ride depending on sea conditions. I always suggest people catch the 2PM ferry back to St. Thomas to ensure they get back to their ship on time. The road to/from Red Hook is only a 2 lane road one each way and frequently gets backed up when ships are in port. Seeing St. John is something everyone should get to experience once, so unless you plan on going back at another time, I'd go for it.

 

[Cliffside]

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all. It has been awhile since I have posted. Sailed on the 10/31 Western Magic with my family and had a wonderful cruise.
Still have not booked flights due to health issues of family members on both sides of mine and my husbands family. I think my husband is nervous to buy airfare because we then have to up our insurance coverage. Hoping in the next couple of weeks I will convince him that we should book. The Continental flights out of Newark have been running around $1200 without taxes and fees. Hopefully they don't go up.
Was very excited to see the excursions up on the DCL webiste. Still can't decide which way to go in terms of excursions(DCL or private guide). Also need to book hotels fro Barcelona. I guess flights come first. Happy plannning everyone.

 

[Cliffside]

I got a chance to read through the posts. Wow people have been busy. It looks like a big group for Rome. Would there be room for three more. What is the intinerary? Florence is also a port I am trying to figure out the way to go. In Naples I definately want to see Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast either with DCL or a private tour. Trying to figure out what would appeal to my DD10 the most. The adventure in Tunisia sounds exciting I was just concerned about the distance from the port.
Also I have question about hotels in Barcelona. It seems people have done a lot of research. We are a family 3, do most hotel rooms only hold 2. Do you have to get a suite for more than that. We need a room for the day before the cruise and one for the day after. The day after we will probably just say at the Marriott at the airport since my DH has miles and we will try to be a little economical. I just don't think it is a good location for the day before for when we want to sight see.
Looking forward to chatting a lot more. I think I decided that we have to book air and up the insurance and take each day as it comes. It gives us something to look forward to and that is what insurance is for.

 

[ejw]

Ellen it can be done, getting to St. John and returning in one day. I don't know what line you'll be on but I know on DCL you're in port only until 4:45. If you get off the ship as soon as it is cleared, you'll probably make the 9AM ferry from Red Hook. They've reduced the downtown ferry service to only 3 each way per day, so not as reliable and the earliest one leaves downtown at 10AM.
Anyway, with the Red Hook ferry you'll be on St. John by 9:30 and on the beach by 10. You'll have about 3-4 hours before you have to pack up and start the trek back. The ferry (Red Hook one) runs every hour on the hour and it's a 20-30 min ride depending on sea conditions. I always suggest people catch the 2PM ferry back to St. Thomas to ensure they get back to their ship on time. The road to/from Red Hook is only a 2 lane road one each way and frequently gets backed up when ships are in port. Seeing St. John is something everyone should get to experience once, so unless you plan on going back at another time, I'd go for it.

Hi jel0511, we are on oasis of the seas and are in port from 7am to 6pm. we've never been to st. thomas or st. john. we have some time before we have to decide. i have to do some more research to see if there is a private excursion we want to do. don't know if we want to snorkel or relax on a beach or do something else. i've been reading that jost van ****, water island or buck island are also nice to do.

thanks for the info, ellen

 

[ejw]

I got a chance to read through the posts. Wow people have been busy. It looks like a big group for Rome. Would there be room for three more. What is the intinerary? Florence is also a port I am trying to figure out the way to go. In Naples I definately want to see Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast either with DCL or a private tour. Trying to figure out what would appeal to my DD10 the most. The adventure in Tunisia sounds exciting I was just concerned about the distance from the port.
Also I have question about hotels in Barcelona. It seems people have done a lot of research. We are a family 3, do most hotel rooms only hold 2. Do you have to get a suite for more than that. We need a room for the day before the cruise and one for the day after. The day after we will probably just say at the Marriott at the airport since my DH has miles and we will try to be a little economical. I just don't think it is a good location for the day before for when we want to sight see.
Looking forward to chatting a lot more. I think I decided that we have to book air and up the insurance and take each day as it comes. It gives us something to look forward to and that is what insurance is for.

Hi cliffside,

we are also a family of three. rivoli ramblas has a triple room and they are located on las ramblas. i currently have a room reserved with them for one day after the cruise thanks to jel0511. the standard rate is 175 euros. i also have a room reserved with hotel montecarlo, also on las ramblas, and they are charging me extra to bring an extra bed in.

ellen

 

[jel0511]

Hi jel0511, we are on oasis of the seas and are in port from 7am to 6pm. we've never been to st. thomas or st. john. we have some time before we have to decide. i have to do some more research to see if there is a private excursion we want to do. don't know if we want to snorkel or relax on a beach or do something else. i've been reading that jost van ****, water island or buck island are also nice to do.

thanks for the info, ellen

If you'll be there until 6, you probably could stay on St. John until 3. I've never been to Water Island, but hear good things about it. It really is just a residential island, with not much else going on. So while you can get there, there are no taxis on the island to get around. Buck Island is off St. Croix, so not an option from St. Thomas. Jost is a 45 minute ferry ride from St. John, so that's 1 1/2 hours from St. Thomas, again not an option for a do it yourselfer. If Oasis has an excursion to Jost and you want to do it, then I would. Jost is beautiful, but the distance is probably too great for even them to consider one.

 

[jel0511]

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all. It has been awhile since I have posted. Sailed on the 10/31 Western Magic with my family and had a wonderful cruise.
Still have not booked flights due to health issues of family members on both sides of mine and my husbands family. I think my husband is nervous to buy airfare because we then have to up our insurance coverage. Hoping in the next couple of weeks I will convince him that we should book. The Continental flights out of Newark have been running around $1200 without taxes and fees. Hopefully they don't go up.
Was very excited to see the excursions up on the DCL webiste. Still can't decide which way to go in terms of excursions(DCL or private guide). Also need to book hotels fro Barcelona. I guess flights come first. Happy plannning everyone.

Hi fellow NJ'er!!!! I've arranged a private excursion to Florence/Pisa. If you want to join us we have room for 3 more. Our plan is to travel to Pisa first, climb the tower, then off to Florence. I think our time in Florence is going to be liesurely, due to all of us already on the trip will be on the Rome one the day before. You can email me at jelbnl@gmail.com if you're interested and I'll give you all the info I have to date. Kim (MinnieDiva) is the one who orgainzed our Rome tour, so you'll have to contact her as to availability there.

 

[MinnieDiva]

PAID IN FULL!!!!

Well, for the cruise anyway. Still have the airfare to book.

Cliffside, I haven't posted in a while and just saw your inquiry about Rome. I'll have to email and ask if we can add the 3 of you. I'll let you know when I hear.

kim

 

[jel0511]

PAID IN FULL!!!!

Well, for the cruise anyway. Still have the airfare to book.



kim

CONGRATS!!!! My balance is so much, I"m waiting until the last minute.... Which I think is April 20th!!!!!

 

[mindelmouse]

CONGRATS!!!! My balance is so much, I"m waiting until the last minute.... Which I think is April 20th!!!!!

I thought we had until 120 days out to pay for it???? Which would be April as Lori said....mine is over $10K...I'm waiting.

 

[MinnieDiva]

I've been plugging away since we booked. And I figure there will be at least some tax return that will help with the airfare...As a bonus....found out that Swiss Air is going to start flying out of San Francisco! Now I just need a deal....I was teased by Kayak that fares of $800-900 were available, but I can't reproduce it ..

 

[MinnieDiva]

I thought we had until 120 days out to pay for it????

I think April 20-ish was my final date as well....give or take...

 

[jel0511]

I thought we had until 120 days out to pay for it???? Which would be April as Lori said....mine is over $10K...I'm waiting.

my balance is over 11k, so i'm not giving that money to DCL interest free!!!!! I just checked my TA has a final payment date of April 19, so I wasn't too far off with the 20th. I'll probably pay if off a couple days early of that to get it out of the way. I did "float" 4k to Air France for our plane tickets but it was a good deal (airfare hasn't gone lower than what I bought) and since I booked before Nov 1st, we get 2 bags per person included, so I figured I was saving money over waiting to book.