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

[Cliffside]

Kim,

We went just before the kids entered 3rd grade this year. Haylee moaned and groaned about going because my son is into history and she is not. Well I have to tell you she had the best time in Williamsburg,....absolutely loved it. I was so surprised. My kids favorite part was the blacksmith...they stood and watched him for almost an hour.

Wow, that is exactly what my DD did. We could not get her out of the blacksmith shop. She was just mesmorized by it all and asked a ton of questions.

 

[Cliffside]

Very excited - Just paid off the balance !!!!!!

And the Magic is leaving for the Med on Saturday.

What a great week.

 

[susiemmfan]

Very excited - Just paid off the balance !!!!!!

And the Magic is leaving for the Med on Saturday.

What a great week.

Yeah! Doesn't it make it seem more real! I booked our hotel last night.

 

[Cliffside]

Yeah! Doesn't it make it seem more real! I booked our hotel last night.

Where did you book? I still haven't gotten around to that yet. It is next on my list of things to do for the trip. What day are you arriving? We are getting there Tuesday morning. So we have all day Tuesday(if we are not too tired) and some of Wednesday to explore Barcelona.

 

[susiemmfan]

Where did you book? I still haven't gotten around to that yet. It is next on my list of things to do for the trip. What day are you arriving? We are getting there Tuesday morning. So we have all day Tuesday(if we are not too tired) and some of Wednesday to explore Barcelona.

We plan to arrive on Monday morning and spend Tuesday on the hop on hop off bus. I made our reservation at the Renaissance Hotel by the airport. The hotel has a suite that sleeps four that includes breakfast, snacks and soft drinks. It also has free shuttle from the airport and to the city. For a fee, you can take a shuttle to the port. Seemed like a decent package. Plus I like Marriott hotels.

 

[susiemmfan]

It is great to see people are interested in planning excursions... we have made plans only for these two ports since for these two ports we know we want a private tour, and we read somewhere that the best tour guides get booked early. We might see some of the other ports on our own (Valetta?) or go on ship's tours (Tunis).

We are planning to use seesorrento.com (Marcello) for Naples. We have seen many wonderful reviews about him. He will take us to see the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii (he will arrange for a guide at Pompeii).

For Rome, we are planning to use miles & miles (Francesco). Again, he and his company have lots of good reviews. He will take us to the Vatican and various attractions in Rome (he will arrange for a guide for the Vatican).

Both guides will be using a van for either 6 or 8 passengers. Since there are four of us, we are interested in finding another family, perhaps with two kids.

We would be interested. I have two children close in age to yours, a daughter who will be 13 and a son who will be 11. Let me know if you are still looking for another family.

Thanks,
Susie

 

[mindelmouse]

Where did you book? I still haven't gotten around to that yet. It is next on my list of things to do for the trip. What day are you arriving? We are getting there Tuesday morning. So we have all day Tuesday(if we are not too tired) and some of Wednesday to explore Barcelona.

Are you on my flights from Newark? We leave Monday night and it's direct to Barcelona on Continental and we come home on Sunday after the cruise?

 

[soxfan1495]

We would be interested. I have two children close in age to yours, a daughter who will be 13 and a son who will be 11. Let me know if you are still looking for another family.

Thanks,
Susie

Yes, if you are interested, we would be happy to share the tours. I think it will be great for the kids. If you would like, I will forward the emails that I have received from Marcello (Naples) and Francesco (Rome). I don't know if you can do private messages yet, but I can't since I don't yet have ten posts.

 

[soxfan1495]

Where did you book? I still haven't gotten around to that yet. It is next on my list of things to do for the trip. What day are you arriving? We are getting there Tuesday morning. So we have all day Tuesday(if we are not too tired) and some of Wednesday to explore Barcelona.

We booked at a relatively small place, called Hostal L'Antic Espai. It has received wonderful reviews on tripadvisor and it is very reasonable (two adjoining rooms for a total of 212 euros). It is in a quieter part of the city, but still seems close enough to all of the places of interest.

 

[MinnieDiva]

Are you on my flights from Newark? We leave Monday night and it's direct to Barcelona on Continental and we come home on Sunday after the cruise?

I swear...there's so many of you from that neck of the woods that the vacation/party is going to start on the plane!

 

[MinnieDiva]

We plan to arrive on Monday morning and spend Tuesday on the hop on hop off bus. I made our reservation at the Renaissance Hotel by the airport. The hotel has a suite that sleeps four that includes breakfast, snacks and soft drinks. It also has free shuttle from the airport and to the city. For a fee, you can take a shuttle to the port. Seemed like a decent package. Plus I like Marriott hotels.

Arriving on Monday as well (evening). Staying at Le Meridian on Las Ramblas and plan to walk and walk and then eat tapas and drink Rioja and the crash in to bed and ideally wake up the next day (Tuesday) relaxed, not jet-lagged, and ready to go! Ok, maybe not in reality, but we're sure going to try!

kim

 

[mindelmouse]

I swear...there's so many of you from that neck of the woods that the vacation/party is going to start on the plane!

Yea, but I have to play it cool on the plane because hopefully my kids still wont' know about the cruise.

 

[MinnieDiva]

Yea, but I have to play it cool on the plane because hopefully my kids still wont' know about the cruise.

Right....forgot about that!

 

[Cliffside]

We plan to arrive on Monday morning and spend Tuesday on the hop on hop off bus. I made our reservation at the Renaissance Hotel by the airport. The hotel has a suite that sleeps four that includes breakfast, snacks and soft drinks. It also has free shuttle from the airport and to the city. For a fee, you can take a shuttle to the port. Seemed like a decent package. Plus I like Marriott hotels.

That's funny we are actually booked there for post cruise. We like Marriott hotels as well. DH travels a lot for business and we used his points to book our post stay. We were debating if we wanted to stay in town before the cruise so we did not book there currently. It sounds like a good deal though. We have thought about doing the on and off bus as well to see the city.

Susan

 

[Cliffside]

Are you on my flights from Newark? We leave Monday night and it's direct to Barcelona on Continental and we come home on Sunday after the cruise?

Yes, we are on the same flights. It is such a small world.

Susan

 

[jel0511]

We're doing the hop on hop off bus on Sat after we get off. We don't arrive in Barcelona from Paris until Tues night. Now I wish we had flown from Newark, sounds like it's going to be a party on the flight!!!!!!!

 

[mindelmouse]

Yes, we are on the same flights. It is such a small world.

Susan

ok cool...we'll have to look for you at the airport and pretend you're just a friendly family we met at the airport. I'm sure my kids will be jealous when you say you're going on a cruise, but I can convince them that I didn't know that the disney cruise was there that week. LOL....I have to remember to get my camera out when the ship comes into view...

 

[mindelmouse]

We're doing the hop on hop off bus on Sat after we get off. We don't arrive in Barcelona from Paris until Tues night. Now I wish we had flown from Newark, sounds like it's going to be a party on the flight!!!!!!!

What's the hop on hop off bus? We're going to do the chocolate factory and the sagrada familia on Saturday after disembarkation. It's a long flight, so the more people you know, the better off you are...LOL....I think someone from CT was going to be on it too....but you're going to Disney first and I wish we were too.

 

[jel0511]

ok cool...we'll have to look for you at the airport and pretend you're just a friendly family we met at the airport. I'm sure my kids will be jealous when you say you're going on a cruise, but I can convince them that I didn't know that the disney cruise was there that week. LOL....I have to remember to get my camera out when the ship comes into view...

Mindy I think your kids are the same age as my son, in 3rd grade. I know my son would figure it out by that point, unforunately, they're not as stupid as we think! I wish you luck in trying to keep it a secret until the fllight.

What's the hop on hop off bus? We're going to do the chocolate factory and the sagrada familia on Saturday after disembarkation. It's a long flight, so the more people you know, the better off you are...LOL....I think someone from CT was going to be on it too....but you're going to Disney first and I wish we were too.

We're staying at Le Meridien on Las Ramblas. So, I believe based on looking at the hop on hop off map, there is a stop not to far from our hotel. We're also staying here pre-cruise, so I'll be able to talk to concierge at the hotel when we arrive to get all the logistic down, so we'll be ready to go when we return. I also have the new Novotel booked, but I don't think we'll be keeping that one, even though it's SO MUCH less. It's in the business district and no where near the bus, so not a good idea...... I also looked into the Rivoli Ramblas, but the price difference wasn't much and I like the look of the Le Meridien better.

 

[mindelmouse]

Mindy I think your kids are the same age as my son, in 3rd grade. I know my son would figure it out by that point, unforunately, they're not as stupid as we think! I wish you luck in trying to keep it a secret until the fllight.


We're staying at Le Meridien on Las Ramblas. So, I believe based on looking at the hop on hop off map, there is a stop not to far from our hotel. We're also staying here pre-cruise, so I'll be able to talk to concierge at the hotel when we arrive to get all the logistic down, so we'll be ready to go when we return. I also have the new Novotel booked, but I don't think we'll be keeping that one, even though it's SO MUCH less. It's in the business district and no where near the bus, so not a good idea...... I also looked into the Rivoli Ramblas, but the price difference wasn't much and I like the look of the Le Meridien better.

Lori,

They are in 3rd grade and I have slipped so many times with them...even funnier...2 days ago I was reading your email about Florence and Sam was looking over my shoulder and I forgot....he asked if you were talking about florence because you lived there...I said yes that I knew you through work and that's where you lived...he accepted that and walked away....he doesn't even have an inkling.

We're closer to the port, a few blocks from Sagrada Familia, right by a metro station...are the buses you refer to tour busses or are they just the city bus and you're just going to go different places?

By the way, Stacey is the other person on our flight...I went back and reread some of our old emails. It's amazing there are about 5 others that said they had booked their flights, but we don't see them here anymore.