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

[eva]

Yikes! I can't believe that we leave only 12 weeks from Friday!

Anyone trying to lose weight or get in better shape before the cruise? I would love to lose a ton of weight. But I will be happy with another 10 to 15 pounds. I have lost 12 over the last two months. But now things are getting tough. This time of year is awful with graduations, weddings, Memorial Day cookouts.......

 

[rav4lcrv]

Hi All, I missed using the Disney Insurance by 1 day-so booked through Insurmytrip.com-called first and they were very helpful.

 

[CustardTart]

Yikes! I can't believe that we leave only 12 weeks from Friday!

Wow!!! That's not too long away now...

Anyone trying to lose weight or get in better shape before the cruise? I would love to lose a ton of weight. But I will be happy with another 10 to 15 pounds. I have lost 12 over the last two months. But now things are getting tough. This time of year is awful with graduations, weddings, Memorial Day cookouts.......

Good luck, Eva!!!

I always find it harder to lose weight in the summer - which is a worry as I'm in WDW (with lots of ADRs planned ) for 9 nights from Saturday. Then I'm going to Barbados for 12 nights (it's my birthday trip so there'll be plenty of eating/drinking involved ) - so that'll leave me with about 8 weeks to limit all the damage done...

 

[eva]

I always find it harder to lose weight in the summer - which is a worry as I'm in WDW (with lots of ADRs planned ) for 9 nights from Saturday. Then I'm going to Barbados for 12 nights (it's my birthday trip so there'll be plenty of eating/drinking involved ) - so that'll leave me with about 8 weeks to limit all the damage done...

Oh, that would be tough. I think that you are right. It seems that we are always at a cookout or something during the summer. The best time to lose weight seems to be right after the first of the year until the end of April. So I will just have to work harder. The fall is a rotten time for us. We are hugh football fans and love all the parties and such that go along with the season. Yikes! I guess there really isn't any good time to lose weight!

Have a great time at WDW!

 

[eva]

Hi All, I missed using the Disney Insurance by 1 day-so booked through Insurmytrip.com-called first and they were very helpful.

Glad you were able to get your insurance. Unfortunately, you have to go through AIG's Travel Guard to insure DVC points. So I am out of luck. But I am glad that you were able to get your trip insured.

 

[CustardTart]

Bye for now, everyone - off to WDW in the morning so I'll catch up when I can...

 

[yow]

Wow, only 12 weeks to go.

We've just booked the air, using miles for both of us, flying to Barcelona and back from Zurich. Yup, we'll be doing a bonus 6 days in Switzerland after the cruise.

Have to wait until June 14 to book the other goodies... thinking about Palo for either the Rome or Villefranche evenings, if available (agree with Eva that it's best with a sea day afterwards). Villefranche would be the Captain's Gala -- is this not to be missed, or does anything special occur at Palo?

 

[lonegungirl]

This was discussed a few days ago, I know, but I was impressed as to how fast the excursions booked. I was interested in the Cinque Terre boat ride and the catacombs tour in Rome, and both were filled by the first day of the Gold Castaway booking day. I'm currently booked for the Pisa-climb the tower and Vatican/Sistine Chapel/St.Peter's excursions for those days, but I may alter them if I can figure out something independent. Some of the ports seems so far away from the major tourist destinations however, that I'd worry a little about the chances of a screw-up getting back to the ship by myself.

I booked the Palo brunch on the first sea day, as it is one of our favorites, and I figured we'd enjoy it more earlier, before we get totally sated by all the food during the week. I put the dinner on La Pezia night, as I heard that was Pirate night, and that's usually our least favorite menu.

Did someone say they were doing a Segway tour in Barcelona? We're staying an extra night after the cruise and absolutely love Segway tours. What company is anyone using?

 

[yow]

This is the Navigator for the April 24 sailing that shows an overview of each day:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/DCL-Navigators/4-24-10/Navigator1.pdf

Their Day 7 & Day 8 were in reverse order of ours, so is it correct that we'd still have the semi-formal on the sea day (following Rome) and the Pirate night for La Spezia? (sorry if this has been discussed before -- the thread is getting long (and my attention span is getting shorter ))

 

[Eeyore3838]

Did someone say they were doing a Segway tour in Barcelona? We're staying an extra night after the cruise and absolutely love Segway tours. What company is anyone using?

We are doing a segway tour of Barcelona on disembarkation day. We are using Barcelona Segway Glides. They are currently listed as the #2 on the Trip Advisor "Things to do" list. Someone else on another thread posted about it, and that prompted my DH to look it up and book it. We have done the one around Epcot and thought it was a lot of fun, so we figured this would be an awesome way to end our vacation. We are also spending one night in Barcelona after the cruise before heading back to the US.

 

[eva]

Bye for now, everyone - off to WDW in the morning so I'll catch up when I can...

We'll miss you! Have a great time and bring us back one of your fabulous trip reports!

Wow, only 12 weeks to go.

We've just booked the air, using miles for both of us, flying to Barcelona and back from Zurich. Yup, we'll be doing a bonus 6 days in Switzerland after the cruise.

Have to wait until June 14 to book the other goodies... thinking about Palo for either the Rome or Villefranche evenings, if available (agree with Eva that it's best with a sea day afterwards). Villefranche would be the Captain's Gala -- is this not to be missed, or does anything special occur at Palo?

Lucky You! Six days in Switzerland sounds great. What are your plans?

The Captain's Gala on the 7-night cruises isn't all that. Not sure if it will be different on the Med cruise. But I don't think I would let that dictate which night you do Palo.

 

[eva]

This was discussed a few days ago, I know, but I was impressed as to how fast the excursions booked. I was interested in the Cinque Terre boat ride and the catacombs tour in Rome, and both were filled by the first day of the Gold Castaway booking day. I'm currently booked for the Pisa-climb the tower and Vatican/Sistine Chapel/St.Peter's excursions for those days, but I may alter them if I can figure out something independent. Some of the ports seems so far away from the major tourist destinations however, that I'd worry a little about the chances of a screw-up getting back to the ship by myself.

I booked the Palo brunch on the first sea day, as it is one of our favorites, and I figured we'd enjoy it more earlier, before we get totally sated by all the food during the week. I put the dinner on La Pezia night, as I heard that was Pirate night, and that's usually our least favorite menu.

I agree on the excursions. I was surprised at which tours were booked so quickly too. We had thought about doing the Olive Oil tour in Civitavecchia. But that was completely booked 90 days out. That is why we have opt to stay on the ship and relax by the pool while doing laundry that day.

Your Palo plans sound good. But I know that I have to save the brunch for the last day. if I start the vacation eating like that, I'll never stop. Totally agree on the Pirate Night. We are going to try to get Palo another night or two when we get onboard. So maybe we will get to go that night too. We have never been to the Pirate night show on deck. And with the late 8:30 seating that we have, I doubt we will make it again. We normally go to our room and watch the fireworks from our verandah. but if we get Palo earlier that night maybe we can make the party.

This is the Navigator for the April 24 sailing that shows an overview of each day:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/Photos/DCL-Navigators/4-24-10/Navigator1.pdf

Their Day 7 & Day 8 were in reverse order of ours, so is it correct that we'd still have the semi-formal on the sea day (following Rome) and the Pirate night for La Spezia? (sorry if this has been discussed before -- the thread is getting long (and my attention span is getting shorter ))

Don't worry about repeating anything. I even repeat myself sometimes! I do wish that someone would post new navigators for the 11-night. I like to just verify things. But I think that you are correct on the events over those 3 days.

 

[yow]

Lucky You! Six days in Switzerland sounds great. What are your plans?

easyJet fly into Geneva or Basel, so we'll start with one of those; spend some time in the Bernese Oberland; then Luzern and Zurich. Should be a nice contrast after the Med... and we're very much looking forward to both.

 

[eva]

easyJet fly into Geneva or Basel, so we'll start with one of those; spend some time in the Bernese Oberland; then Luzern and Zurich. Should be a nice contrast after the Med... and we're very much looking forward to both.

Your side trip in Switzerland sounds wonderful. Steve and I used to live in Germany and never made it to Switzerland. But we always wished that we had. It was one of the few countries on Germany's border that we didn't get a chance to visit. I'm jealous!

 

[eva]

It is so great to see more people joining the cruise! Does anyone want to plan a Meet on the cruise? The first sea day may be a great time to meet quickly and say hi.

 

[yow]

Funny, eh -- we often take for granted what's in our own backyard. For instance, we lived in San Diego for a few years and never took a cruise, despite seeing all the ships coming through. Now we live nowhere near a port but have gotten to like cruising very much.

Meetup on the first sea day would be good. Can get to specifics as the date draws nearer.

 

[eva]

Funny, eh -- we often take for granted what's in our own backyard. For instance, we lived in San Diego for a few years and never took a cruise, despite seeing all the ships coming through. Now we live nowhere near a port but have gotten to like cruising very much.

Meetup on the first sea day would be good. Can get to specifics as the date draws nearer.

It is really nice to have a quick meet near the beginning of the cruise. Then you can know some of the fellow DISer's by sight and can say hello. Don't worry most people can't remember names after one meet. We usually only go to the first meet. I hate to say it, but by the time that the cruise gets into full swing I often forget things like meets and such. Must be all the drinks of the day!

 

[yow]

Made our Palo reservations today -- dinner at Civitavecchia, brunch on the last sea day. Many choices were still available. Planning continues... suppose we'll get our cabin assigned in July maybe.

 

[ccausey]

Hi this is our first Disney cruise! Does anyone know of a good company for private tours in Rome? I want to make sure we have a great day there...

 

[yow]

Welcome, ccausey.

In terms of a private tour with a car etc, a company that seems to be well regarded on these boards and elsewhere is:

www.romeinlimo.com

They also do walking tours, etc... if you're looking to take the train into Rome and get a tour from there, I think there are several companies or independent guides offering this service -- google 'site:disboards.com rome tour' or 'site:cruisecritic.com rome tour'.

Perhaps others here can chime in as well.