We are arriving on the Wed 17th, so have 3 nights to explore,, Universal Hotel Barcelona. Walking distance to the port I think.
I will be trying to book Disney Excursions if there's any left when my booking window opens.
Anyone in the CC Club & have checked in already?
The only excursion I've seen that's all booked up is one of the private car options for Rome, I think it was. Everything else was open.
We're CC Club members (silver, one cruise under our belt) and we've already booked a few excursions. We have this so far:
* Sorrento/Pompeii (because adding Sorrento was $20 more than the half day Pompeii so why not!). This is for the four of us only. Mom-in-Law can't do cobblestones and told us to go on without her. (Gah!)
* Hubby Kent and Maddy (oldest/16) are going into Rome and doing the Catacombs/Colosseum/St. Peter's Basilica tour. Kara (9) and Barb (grandma) and I will just check out Civitavecchia a bit and hang out on the ship. I'm not invested in going to Rome...I'll get Sorrento and Florence and that's what matters most to me. (My mom was born and raised in Trieste, Italy, and I've been many times before, so I'm fine skipping Rome.)
* Both girls (Kara and Maddy) are going with me to do Florence Your Way...if it weren't for the thought of the ship leaving without us because of some train issue, I would just take the train into Florence! But I can see a rail strike or some issue with the track, and the ship leaving without us, so a Disney excursion it is--even though the train would get us there in half the time. (sigh.) I spent a summer in Florence so I'm taking my girls to my favorite places. Kent and Barb (his Mom) are doing Easy Pisa, since it's wheelchair-friendly.
* Villefranche - we decided to skip the excursions and just walk the town, maybe go to the beach. Maddy wants to practice her French and buy a baguette. Lol. I also found that on Thursdays (when we're there) or "any time there's a cruise ship in town" there is a market set up in Villefranche with hand-made crafts. If you're interested in a guide published by their tourist agency, it's here:
Villefranche Guide. This is the
Villefranche Tourist Office Website. There are three bakeries, a soap maker's, the beach, restaurants, some tourist shops for souvenirs, clothes shops, and plenty of pretty views.
We've spent hours going over all the details today...but somehow every day, the decisions change a little and we decide to do something different. But I think the above is pretty solid at this point, excepting Easy Pisa, since Barb won't know how well she'll feel/how mobile she'll be until we get on the ship. Sometimes she's fine, others not so much.
Okay, that's about it for me. I really, really wish I felt better about that train to Florence.
I just don't feel I can risk it. Darn!
--Karina
I'll let you know as soon as that decision is made. 
I am a serious over-packer! We are from Orange County, CA. I agree that it is going to be so much fun!
