August 28, 2010 Pirates of the Barbary Coast - 11 nights in the Mediterranean

[eva]

Hi,

I am currently looking into Cinque Terr plus Pisa as well. However my plan is to hike a little in Cinque Terre. Hikes between town range from 30 min to 2 hours. So my plan is to hike from 1 town to the other and then catch a train back to La Spezia.

U can look into Cinque Terre card which includes unlimited train rides from La Spezia to the various train stations of Cinque Terre towns plus the trail fees. 8.50 euro per peson. Vernazzo is supposed to be the nicest town of the Cinque Terre.

I am working on the train schedules now, if u want a copy of that, I can email to u tomorrow.

I am still earning my credits here so can't PM...

We are doing Cinque Terre with a private guide. But you can also get a great book by Rick Steves on touring Cinque Terre. I have read it a couple of times. We are really excited about the private guide. We booked the tour through the National Park District. The guide meets us at the dock in La Spezia. We then take the train to T1 and tour the first town. We then hike between T1 to T3, with stops in each town. After that we use the train from T3 to T4 and then to T5. Finally we have a ferry take us back to the dock in La Spezia. The price of the tour includes the Cinque Terre card and the price of the ferry. We just have to add in lunch. I have been working out every day to get ready for all the hiking.

 

[ytsyts]

We are doing Cinque Terre with a private guide. But you can also get a great book by Rick Steves on touring Cinque Terre. I have read it a couple of times. We are really excited about the private guide. We booked the tour through the National Park District. The guide meets us at the dock in La Spezia. We then take the train to T1 and tour the first town. We then hike between T1 to T3, with stops in each town. After that we use the train from T3 to T4 and then to T5. Finally we have a ferry take us back to the dock in La Spezia. The price of the tour includes the Cinque Terre card and the price of the ferry. We just have to add in lunch. I have been working out every day to get ready for all the hiking.

Thanks for sharing the info! I will check out the book.

I more month to go...

 

[madmum63]

Not long to wait. Kids are getting really excited now.

But the adults are even more excited.



DHDW DD 10 DS 13
DW sister

 

[eva]

I more month to go...

You're right! I didn't realize it is only 1 month exactly!

 

[Jpinto]

One month minus 1 day and counting

 

[yow]

Wow, less than a month away!

We are in full planning mode now. Working out details on self-guided days in all the ports. Ajaccio seems to be the biggest question mark, not sure whether we'll want to hit a beach or simply stroll around town. For the others: Valletta will be a city day for us; Tunis we're looking to get a taxi and combine the Mdina and Sidi-Bou-Said; Naples will be Pompeii plus Naples city time; Civitavecchia we'll train it to Rome for the Pantheon / Piazzas / Vatican / Colosseum; in La Spezia we'll try for an early tender and spend the day in Cinque Terre; and at Villefranche we're thinking about Eze and Nice in addition to plenty to see and experience right around the port. That plus a couple of days in Barcelona beforehand, and six days in Switzerland before heading home, and you can imagine the scene in our living room & office with books and notes spread all over.

 

[eva]

Wow, less than a month away!

We are in full planning mode now. Working out details on self-guided days in all the ports. Ajaccio seems to be the biggest question mark, not sure whether we'll want to hit a beach or simply stroll around town. For the others: Valletta will be a city day for us; Tunis we're looking to get a taxi and combine the Mdina and Sidi-Bou-Said; Naples will be Pompeii plus Naples city time; Civitavecchia we'll train it to Rome for the Pantheon / Piazzas / Vatican / Colosseum; in La Spezia we'll try for an early tender and spend the day in Cinque Terre; and at Villefranche we're thinking about Eze and Nice in addition to plenty to see and experience right around the port. That plus a couple of days in Barcelona beforehand, and six days in Switzerland before heading home, and you can imagine the scene in our living room & office with books and notes spread all over.

Most ports have been decided on. But we are having the same problem with Corsica too. None of the DCL excursions thrill me. And there doesn't appear to be a lot of interest in Ajaccio itself. There is suppose to be a great market to browse through. But from a couple of trip report, it seems that you need to hit that early in the day. I think that we might do that and then wander over to the beach for a nice stroll. We love walking up and down a beach, if the weather is nice.

In Villefranche I am still debating on the Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese excursion with DCL. We are signed up right now. But it doesn't leave the ship till 2:00 pm. This seems crazy to me since all aboard is at 5:30. And I am not too keen on tendering into Villefranche then coming back to the ship to meet for the excursion. We may just hit Villefranche on our own and then take the train to Eze and have our own wine and cheese. Decisions! Decisions!

 

[yow]

Eva, FWIW our cruise docs show an on-board time of 7:30pm for Villefranche.

If you're looking at Eze Village, the one up in the hills, you'd need to take a train or bus to Eze Bord de Mer and then a bus up to Eze le Village.

 

[eva]

Eva, FWIW our cruise docs show an on-board time of 7:30pm for Villefranche.

If you're looking at Eze Village, the one up in the hills, you'd need to take a train or bus to Eze Bord de Mer and then a bus up to Eze le Village.

You are right. Somehow I must have gotten Corsica and Villefranche aboard times mixed up. I think that we will go ahead and tender in the morning and stay in Villefranche for a couple of hours. Then we will head back to the ship for lunch before heading to meet for the excursion. It does mean tendering twice. But I don't think that we will be in a big hurry to do anything by the end of the cruise.

 

[shellbelle1971]

Elijah (DS, age 12) has been wanting to go to Italy since he was in kindergarten. Now he gets his chance! Mom & Dad are gonna love it too!

 

[lovestotravel28]

Working on how to tour Rome. For those taking the train into Rome, how are you getting around once there? It is a good distance from the Vatican area to other sites. I have been there before, my husband hasn't would like for him to have a good overview. Would consider joining others for a private tour as well, I have a couple that were recommended to me.

 

[MGrant]

We are booked for the Magic August 28th Med 11 night cruise and have secured a private tour company/guide for Naples (71 euros PP), Civitavecchia (85 euros PP), LaSpezia (71 euros PP) and Villefranche( 75 euros PP). We have room for 3 individuals on the Italian tours and room for 4 in Villefranche. If you are interested in finding out more about what the tours entail-please contact me.

Anyone inquiring on these tours-please send me your email via private message-for some reason I am not able to send messages.

 

[akluss]

4 weeks from today we will be getting on the Magic to begin our adventure!! We have pretty much decided what we are doing at each port and I have been making a packing list, but it seems too early to start packing yet. What other things have you been doing to get ready? Karyn

 

[yow]

Working on how to tour Rome. For those taking the train into Rome, how are you getting around once there? It is a good distance from the Vatican area to other sites.

We plan to buy a "BIRG" ticket at a newsstand before hopping the train in Civitavecchia. This provides unlimited access on Rome's subways and buses, so we'll do that (although might use a taxi from Piazza Navona to the Vatican).

 

[madmum63]

4 weeks from today we will be getting on the Magic to begin our adventure!! We have pretty much decided what we are doing at each port and I have been making a packing list, but it seems too early to start packing yet. What other things have you been doing to get ready? Karyn

We are sorting out Euros and Dollars. Trying to decide what limitations to give our DS just 13 and our DD 10 (do we let her sign out of club etc). Still haven't booked hotel in Spain for 2 nights prior to cruise. Hence our next tick on the to do list is look at availability for Hotels. We find it so much easier to fly to the U.S. for our Disney Cruise because we either stay at the Grand Flo or the Grand Cal and use all Disney transportation.

But only 26 more days to go and counting.

 

[eva]

Elijah (DS, age 12) has been wanting to go to Italy since he was in kindergarten. Now he gets his chance! Mom & Dad are gonna love it too!

Aboard!

 

[eva]

Working on how to tour Rome. For those taking the train into Rome, how are you getting around once there? It is a good distance from the Vatican area to other sites. I have been there before, my husband hasn't would like for him to have a good overview. Would consider joining others for a private tour as well, I have a couple that were recommended to me.

We were in Rome a couple years ago. And if I were going for the first time and only had a day, I would buy tickets for the tour buses that you can hop on and off all day long. We did that the first day of our trip and it gave a us a great over view of Rome. We rode the bus completely through the first time (less than 2 hours) then we started deciding where to jump off at. On the bus you are given headsets and there is a narrative tour that you can plug in to. Just turn to the English station and you are set. Of course, you will need a guide book of Rome and have a good idea of where you want to visit ahead of time. You don't want to spend too much time trying to decide what to do. I highly suggest taking a good hour for lunch and eat al fresco in a nice piazza (courtyard). Don't forget a gelatto in the afternoon!

 

[eva]

4 weeks from today we will be getting on the Magic to begin our adventure!! We have pretty much decided what we are doing at each port and I have been making a packing list, but it seems too early to start packing yet. What other things have you been doing to get ready? Karyn

4 WEEKS!!!!!!​

I've been tweaking my packing list too. Steve just picked up some Euros Thursday. I am trying to decide what other clothes I might need for the cruise. I've lost 20 pounds over the last few months and not everything fits just right. Luckily I saved all my "skinny" clothes and do not need too many things. But I have been holding off because I was hoping to lose another 5 or 6 pounds before the cruise. I wish that I had more to do. The wait is getting brutal!

 

[madmum63]

4 WEEKS!!!!!!​

I've been tweaking my packing list too. Steve just picked up some Euros Thursday. I am trying to decide what other clothes I might need for the cruise. I've lost 20 pounds over the last few months and not everything fits just right. Luckily I saved all my "skinny" clothes and do not need too many things. But I have been holding off because I was hoping to lose another 5 or 6 pounds before the cruise. I wish that I had more to do. The wait is getting brutal!

We have just spent the evening packing my DD 10 suitcase for the build-a-bears that will be travelling with us. (I have limited it to 2 bears)

She has been streamlining the clothes since she broke up from school in June. At least someone in the party has everything from swimwear to evening attire.

If only it took me 20 minutes to pack for the rest of us.

Andrea

 

[froggie93]

Anyone have any idea how many families with children bringing FE's and how many children room#s etc. I'm thinking of what to bring to leave in the FE's. If interested please send private message.