August 7th, 2010 Mediterranean Cruise

[jd99]

That is good news- I will be signing up as soon as I get on the ship. And I didn't realize we could eat more than one brunch there. I love their brunch.

What time is everyone planning to arrive at port? I haven't checked the previous cruise reports to see what the earliest time is that we can check in. My experience in FL was that you could really check in before the time that was advertised.

And I got myself a pacsafe purse that seems a little big and I got my husband a pacsafe backpack that seems a little small. We'll see how they work out.

I just got back from a 1 night trip with my daughters school and I was horrified at how much I packed for just 1 night. I'm really going to have to rethink our packing.

you are really not supposed to be able to go twice but if you ask nicely and they have room...

Wondering which pacsafe backpack you got your husband. I've been looking at them and want a smaller one so perhaps what you chose would work...

 

[dustermom02]

Wondering which pacsafe backpack you got your husband. I've been looking at them and want a smaller one so perhaps what you chose would work...

Got him the metrosafe 300. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting but he's really happy with it. I found a sale for $10 off so that helped.

 

[abayaflowers]

Are there any families staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar before and after the cruise? I heard that it has excellent views and outstanding food selections near the hotel. Any recommendations for getting from the hotel to the ship?

As for Tunisia, our family decided to stay on the ship for this port because of some research that we did on our own and from friends who are from that region or returned from a trip.

On another thread, I read that women and children should sign up with DCL SE's or stay on the ship due to safety reasons.

Then, our DD's godfather who returned from a trip from that region highly recommended that the DD's and I stay on the ship. He described the experience for his girlfriend very frightening.

Then, I decided to have breakfast downtown and sat next to one of my DD's teacher's parents who went on a Tunisia SE on their own. The father told about his experience.

They took a taxi into town. The one mile drive took one hour. The roads are in bad repair and unlike the US roads. They drove through an underground bazaar. Eventually, the taxidriver stopped at a mosque where, apparently, all his friends were selling their merchandise and rugs. It was a culture shock, but it turned sour when they evenutally told the merchants that they were not interested in purchasing anything. The merchants including the driver became very angry. The taxidriver and merchants "yelled at them back into the cab". The driver, then, drove them a distance away and they had no idea where they were. Eventually, her parents found their way back to an underground bazaar where they literally found one of their Cruise ship's SE guide wrapping up their tour. They eventually got back on the ship and was so happy to be back.

So, after all the thoughts and research of a new adventure in Tunisia, I decided to be "boring" and stay on the ship.

For those who are lucky enough to have booked the Beach Club, we are jealous! Have a relaxing SE in Tunis.

 

[jd99]

Are there any families staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar before and after the cruise? I heard that it has excellent views and outstanding food selections near the hotel. Any recommendations for getting from the hotel to the ship?

As for Tunisia, our family decided to stay on the ship for this port because of some research that we did on our own and from friends who are from that region or returned from a trip.

On another thread, I read that women and children should sign up with DCL SE's or stay on the ship due to safety reasons.

Then, our DD's godfather who returned from a trip from that region highly recommended that the DD's and I stay on the ship. He described the experience for his girlfriend very frightening.

Then, I decided to have breakfast downtown and sat next to one of my DD's teacher's parents who went on a Tunisia SE on their own. The father told about his experience.

They took a taxi into town. The one mile drive took one hour. The roads are in bad repair and unlike the US roads. They drove through an underground bazaar. Eventually, the taxidriver stopped at a mosque where, apparently, all his friends were selling their merchandise and rugs. It was a culture shock, but it turned sour when they evenutally told the merchants that they were not interested in purchasing anything. The merchants including the driver became very angry. The taxidriver and merchants "yelled at them back into the cab". The driver, then, drove them a distance away and they had no idea where they were. Eventually, her parents found their way back to an underground bazaar where they literally found one of their Cruise ship's SE guide wrapping up their tour. They eventually got back on the ship and was so happy to be back.

So, after all the thoughts and research of a new adventure in Tunisia, I decided to be "boring" and stay on the ship.

For those who are lucky enough to have booked the Beach Club, we are jealous! Have a relaxing SE in Tunis.

Yikes! That's why we wanted to do a DCL excursion but unfortunately the beach club excursion was canceled for some reason. Nothing really to replace it in our minds. We may just get off the ship and wander around the port to say we were "in" Africa. Don't think my DW and two DDs would enjoy the above experience much.

Got him the metrosafe 300. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting but he's really happy with it. I found a sale for $10 off so that helped.

Thanks! Looked it up but it's a laptop case, not a backpack. I'm looking for a smallish backpack but haven't been able to find anything in the PacSafe or similar lines..

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

Looks like we should plan a DISboards get-together while in Tunis Looks like we may all be at the pool that day!

 

[abayaflowers]

Looks like we should plan a DISboards get-together while in Tunis Looks like we may all be at the pool that day!

Sounds great! I am up for it. The DD's are looking forward to more time in the Oceaneer's Club and Lab.

Let me know where and when.

GM from Northern California

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

Hi Gang -

Curious for those of you not using DCL transfers, are any of you organizing transportation before getting to the airport or are you planning on getting a taxi? I keep going back and forth on this and was curious what others had planned.

Also, does anyone have any ideas for a get together while on board? It would be nice to meet everyone and put a 'DISboard' name with a face

Hope everyone is having fun planning...I can't believe how close the trip is now. Reading everyone's trip reports gets me more and more excited!

Have a great weekend!

 

[abayaflowers]

I was surprised to not see a thread for this cruise.
Am I the only one picking this cruise?

I missed the Med the 1st time around but don't want to miss it this time.

Who is with me?

I wanted to share a cute comment from my DD7 about the cruise. Since we have a 11 mos. old chocolate lab, my DD7 asked if the cruise was pet-friendly. It made me smile about how much she thinks our pet.

As for ground transportation, which was mentioned earlier by Lisawalker, we know that it is inexpensive to take the train. But, we have decided to take the taxi and make it simple for us since we are a family of 4. Then, we are planning to the take the taxi back from the ship to the hotel. We are staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar.

One more thing before I forget, we can meet for lunch or breakfast on the day we dock at the Tunisian port. Just an idea. I checked for a schedule for onboard activities, but I just found Theater ideas. I will have to check later.

I hope your family is as excited as we all are on this disboard.

 

[jd99]

Hi Gang -

Curious for those of you not using DCL transfers, are any of you organizing transportation before getting to the airport or are you planning on getting a taxi? I keep going back and forth on this and was curious what others had planned.

Also, does anyone have any ideas for a get together while on board? It would be nice to meet everyone and put a 'DISboard' name with a face

Hope everyone is having fun planning...I can't believe how close the trip is now. Reading everyone's trip reports gets me more and more excited!

Have a great weekend!

On past cruises, we've had really good luck with a 2:45 p.m. meeting at the Promenade Lounge on the first day of the cruise. You board, you have lunch, you have the meeting, you go to the lifeboat drill. It's great because it's early on and you meet some folks and then see them through the rest of the cruise, etc. I'd be happy to help organize if folks think this would work.

jeff

 

[dustermom02]

Thanks! Looked it up but it's a laptop case, not a backpack. I'm looking for a smallish backpack but haven't been able to find anything in the PacSafe or similar lines..

Then I have good news for you --It really is a backpack too. It has a pocket on the back where the shoulder straps come out and you clip them on to make it into a backpack too.

Looks like we should plan a DISboards get-together while in Tunis Looks like we may all be at the pool that day!

Count us in too

Hi Gang -

Curious for those of you not using DCL transfers, are any of you organizing transportation before getting to the airport or are you planning on getting a taxi? I keep going back and forth on this and was curious what others had planned.

Also, does anyone have any ideas for a get together while on board? It would be nice to meet everyone and put a 'DISboard' name with a face

Hope everyone is having fun planning...I can't believe how close the trip is now. Reading everyone's trip reports gets me more and more excited!

Have a great weekend!

My MIL found a hotel with free shuttles to the port so that is very nice that we won't have to worry about that.

Would love to have a DISboard get together. Has anyone checked the completed trip reports to see what worked best for them? I keep meaning to look, but then I don't have the time. I do have one idea -On our cruise last November DH and I stopped in to see the adult scavenger hunt the first night, and I was laughing so hard I was crying. DH kept saying - I can't believe I'm on a Disney Cruise!! It might be a good place to meet up, although you may learn more about people than you want and we'd have to put my parents & in-laws to bed -I'm not sure it would be their cup of tea.

I'm still confused about Departure from Barcelona - It says Port Departure is 9:30pm and there is a dinner menu listed - but is the ship going to be open for lunch too? And what time is the lifeboat drill going to be?

I tried to have a practice packing run yesterday with my little one - just for fun- to see if there was any chance we'd be able to squeeze all 5 of us into 2 suitcases, but I don't think so.

 

[llkoolj40]

Are there any families staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar before and after the cruise? I heard that it has excellent views and outstanding food selections near the hotel. Any recommendations for getting from the hotel to the ship?

As for Tunisia, our family decided to stay on the ship for this port because of some research that we did on our own and from friends who are from that region or returned from a trip.

On another thread, I read that women and children should sign up with DCL SE's or stay on the ship due to safety reasons.

Then, our DD's godfather who returned from a trip from that region highly recommended that the DD's and I stay on the ship. He described the experience for his girlfriend very frightening.

Then, I decided to have breakfast downtown and sat next to one of my DD's teacher's parents who went on a Tunisia SE on their own. The father told about his experience.

They took a taxi into town. The one mile drive took one hour. The roads are in bad repair and unlike the US roads. They drove through an underground bazaar. Eventually, the taxidriver stopped at a mosque where, apparently, all his friends were selling their merchandise and rugs. It was a culture shock, but it turned sour when they evenutally told the merchants that they were not interested in purchasing anything. The merchants including the driver became very angry. The taxidriver and merchants "yelled at them back into the cab". The driver, then, drove them a distance away and they had no idea where they were. Eventually, her parents found their way back to an underground bazaar where they literally found one of their Cruise ship's SE guide wrapping up their tour. They eventually got back on the ship and was so happy to be back.

So, after all the thoughts and research of a new adventure in Tunisia, I decided to be "boring" and stay on the ship.

For those who are lucky enough to have booked the Beach Club, we are jealous! Have a relaxing SE in Tunis.

Hello there, We just returned from the 5/15 med cruise and did the DCL Dougga tour. The trip was longer the represented, as the drive was just over 2 hours to get there, but the ruins were well worth the drive as well as the countryside. Plus we were part of a very few people at the ruins so you could really walk around the area.

As for the camel rides, they are right by the ship area and the rides are 10 euros per camel(2 people can be on one camel) but the ride is very short. We did it and laughed so much. It was well worth the 10 Euros!!!

Lori-Jo

 

[abayaflowers]

Hi Gang -

Curious for those of you not using DCL transfers, are any of you organizing transportation before getting to the airport or are you planning on getting a taxi? I keep going back and forth on this and was curious what others had planned.

Also, does anyone have any ideas for a get together while on board? It would be nice to meet everyone and put a 'DISboard' name with a face

Hope everyone is having fun planning...I can't believe how close the trip is now. Reading everyone's trip reports gets me more and more excited!

Have a great weekend!

Hi, Everyone! We can't wait to go and enjoy the experience. I did some more research on the Transportation from the airport to the hotels. Here is what I found.

Note: This is based on my mind-set of a mom of two DD's. Therefore, I wanted it simple.

• Limo: more expensive than a taxi service, but someone is waiting for you and your family when you get off the plane. If you have a lot of luggage, they have van accommodations which will hold all the luggage. But, remember to email them with you questions before you book it. You want to iron out any communication issues.
  
  Taxi: Abundant and everyone uses it if there are a family of 4 or less including 4 small (under 2' tall) suitcases. ~ 40 - 50 Euros also depending where you are going. We are heading to Hilton Diagonal Mar.
  
  Train: The least expensive and efficient. However, the transfer are far from one another, meaning that it is not a short walk next door. It's far especially when you have melting children and lots of luggage.

We are taking the taxi over to the hotel.

 

[abayaflowers]

As for the camel rides, they are right by the ship area and the rides are 10 euros per camel(2 people can be on one camel) but the ride is very short. We did it and laughed so much. It was well worth the 10 Euros!!!
Lori-Jo

Hi, Lori-Jo! Great idea! My DH likes the idea, but my DD's might want to stay on the boat to experience the Oceaneer's Club and Lab. Neat! Where does the camel ride take you? What is the recommended attire if you had to do it over again. Thanks for sharing, Geri

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

On past cruises, we've had really good luck with a 2:45 p.m. meeting at the Promenade Lounge on the first day of the cruise. You board, you have lunch, you have the meeting, you go to the lifeboat drill. It's great because it's early on and you meet some folks and then see them through the rest of the cruise, etc. I'd be happy to help organize if folks think this would work.

jeff

Hi Jeff -

Thanks for offering to organize the get-together. I think meeting up before the cruise starts is a great idea. Last time we were on the cruise we were with over 20 of our closest friends and it was always great to bump into a familiar face throughout the cruise. We are open to anything and really look forward to meeting everyone!

Curious, on your past cruises when you met up how did everyone know who was from the group? Or was it just obvious?

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

Hi, Everyone! We can't wait to go and enjoy the experience. I did some more research on the Transportation from the airport to the hotels. Here is what I found.

Note: This is based on my mind-set of a mom of two DD's. Therefore, I wanted it simple.

• Limo: more expensive than a taxi service, but someone is waiting for you and your family when you get off the plane. If you have a lot of luggage, they have van accommodations which will hold all the luggage. But, remember to email them with you questions before you book it. You want to iron out any communication issues.
  
  Taxi: Abundant and everyone uses it if there are a family of 4 or less including 4 small (under 2' tall) suitcases. ~ 40 - 50 Euros also depending where you are going. We are heading to Hilton Diagonal Mar.
  
  Train: The least expensive and efficient. However, the transfer are far from one another, meaning that it is not a short walk next door. It's far especially when you have melting children and lots of luggage.

We are taking the taxi over to the hotel.

Thanks for the info. I am thinking we will probably just take a taxi. I did contact a company that was mentioned on DISboards from a past Med cruiser and when the company did not response to my request for a quote, I took that as a "sign."

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

Then I have good news for you --It really is a backpack too. It has a pocket on the back where the shoulder straps come out and you clip them on to make it into a backpack too.



Count us in too



My MIL found a hotel with free shuttles to the port so that is very nice that we won't have to worry about that.

Would love to have a DISboard get together. Has anyone checked the completed trip reports to see what worked best for them? I keep meaning to look, but then I don't have the time. I do have one idea -On our cruise last November DH and I stopped in to see the adult scavenger hunt the first night, and I was laughing so hard I was crying. DH kept saying - I can't believe I'm on a Disney Cruise!! It might be a good place to meet up, although you may learn more about people than you want and we'd have to put my parents & in-laws to bed -I'm not sure it would be their cup of tea.

I'm still confused about Departure from Barcelona - It says Port Departure is 9:30pm and there is a dinner menu listed - but is the ship going to be open for lunch too? And what time is the lifeboat drill going to be?

I tried to have a practice packing run yesterday with my little one - just for fun- to see if there was any chance we'd be able to squeeze all 5 of us into 2 suitcases, but I don't think so.

I just read in one of the recent trip reports that the muester drill is at 4:00pm and the sail away party is at 4:45pm. Lunch will be provided in a couple different locations when you board the ship and then dinner will be provided for you at either the early or late sitting, whichever you reserved.

I also practiced packing the other day too. I am able to get most of everyone's things in their respective carry-on and then I am shooting for 1 large suitcase for all of us after that. Though, hmmm, I will need to have room to bring things that I purchase home Might need to bring another suitcase just for that!

 

[llkoolj40]

Hi, Lori-Jo! Great idea! My DH likes the idea, but my DD's might want to stay on the boat to experience the Oceaneer's Club and Lab. Neat! Where does the camel ride take you? What is the recommended attire if you had to do it over again. Thanks for sharing, Geri

The camels are right by the ramp as you get on or off the boat. They take you in a quick circle right by the ship. Here is a pic.

 

[abayaflowers]

The camels are right by the ramp as you get on or off the boat. They take you in a quick circle right by the ship. Here is a pic.

You sold me! I will try this one just for the experience. Thanks for sharing the great picture.

 

[xsjackson]

Hi Gang -

Curious for those of you not using DCL transfers, are any of you organizing transportation before getting to the airport or are you planning on getting a taxi? I keep going back and forth on this and was curious what others had planned.

Also, does anyone have any ideas for a get together while on board? It would be nice to meet everyone and put a 'DISboard' name with a face

Hope everyone is having fun planning...I can't believe how close the trip is now. Reading everyone's trip reports gets me more and more excited!

Have a great weekend!

Haven't been on for a while we ar using Barcelona Day tours for our transfer from Airport to hotel and then hotel to port. Really not bad for 7 of us.

 

[xsjackson]

What a bummer. I was looking forward to seeing at least one beach on this trip. After doing Disney cruises in the Caribbean I doing think my sisters kids understand there will not be any beaches.

Now we have nothing to do in Corsica. Oh well.

The camel ride looks like a lot of fun!

Susan