August 7th, 2010 Mediterranean Cruise

[LisaWalkerC21]

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

Not sure how good it is, but I believe their is a beach within walking distance. We plan on doing Corsica on our own, but staying within walking distance.

 

[jd99]

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

What the heck? We have now had two excursions canceled - beach resorts in Tunisia and Corsica - yet we have NOT been contacted by DCL. Found out here. What is the deal with the beach excursions on this cruise. We also wanted to balance out the lack of "beach" experiences on this trip by finding some opportunities to hit the beach. Now both of ours have been canceled. The Corsica trip was to be our substitute Castaway Day. Now what? Any suggestions?

 

[jd99]

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

What the heck? We have now had two excursions canceled - beach resorts in Tunisia and Corsica - yet we have NOT been contacted by DCL. Found out here. What is the deal with the beach excursions on this cruise. We also wanted to balance out the lack of "beach" experiences on this trip by finding some opportunities to hit the beach. Now both of ours have been canceled. The Corsica trip was to be our substitute Castaway Day. Now what? Any suggestions?

 

[dustermom02]

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

We had people so organized on our Nov cruise that they ordered us matching t-shirts. One of the guys also made us coordinating stickers to go on our lanyards that helped the rest of the trip.

Lori-Jo that picture of the camel by the Magic is fantastic!

 

[dustermom02]

Just found this from the May cruise - All I can say is WOW- talk about being organized.

http://5-15-10-medcruisers.weebly.com/index.html

And here was their schedule for boarding.
Check-in open - around 10-10.30am (DCL brochure says 10am, email says 10.30)
Embarkation - begins approx 1pm
Disboards Meet & Greet 3pm Promenade Lounge
Check in at terminal to be complete by 4pm, after 4pm check-in done
Mandatory Lifeboat drill - 5pm
Sails from Barcelona - 9.30pm

 

[abayaflowers]

I found a great blog from the DCL Forum: http://app4.websitetonight.com/projects/6/8/9/5/689561/Mediterranean_Trip_Blog.html

It's very detailed and told from a TA perspective.

 

[xsjackson]

My sister who I am travling with got a call from Disney saying it was cancelled. I then checked the available excusions on line and found it totally cancelled. It was a real bummer for us because it was the only excusion we were taking my sister's 2 youngest on. They only wanted to club it on board - they are 6 and 8. Now I am thinking I can get them off the boat to ride a camel.

We are going to a short tour of Carthage that day but it leaves enough time for a camel ride.

Maybe I better do some more research on Corsica. I am really bummed because I am staying onboard for Rome and Naples (I visted them lst summer on a RCCL cruise with my husband and kids and felt I could be the monitor for the younger kids on board).

Anyone have any ideas for Corsica?

 

[xsjackson]

I can tell you from past cruises (not Disney) that Cittiveccia is very far from Rome. The port is also a long walk from the main part of town but if you dont mind walking they have some great restuarants and fruit stands.

Naples is right in town and an easy walk for pizza and such.

 

[dustermom02]

I found a great blog from the DCL Forum: http://app4.websitetonight.com/projects/6/8/9/5/689561/Mediterranean_Trip_Blog.html

It's very detailed and told from a TA perspective.

Thanks! Just read it - its very helpful.

 

[jd99]

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?

Basically it was obvious. On some cruises we did a cruise mates list that included pix but on others just a list of names and kids' ages.

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

Hi -

So, I have been concerned about keeping safe while traveling overseas and being smart about carrying cash, credit cards, etc...in the fear of being pick pocketed, mostly from what I have been reading on the cruise boards. Well, our friends moved to Barcelona in December and we will be visiting them when we go in August. My friend just told me yesterday that she was finally pick pocketed on the Metro yesterday with her kids. She was targeted while she was tending to her children on the crowded Metro. They managed to unzip her bag without her knowing and steal her Vera Bradley wallet - that she loved Guess what I will be bringing her when I see her in a couple months So, guess I just wanted to reinforce to be aware of your surroundings while traveling. She did say to me that when you use a credit card in Barcelona they ask for identification - so I was happy to hear that, especially for her sake.

So how is everyone's plans coming along? For those of you who were concerned about beach excursions, have you found any alternatives? What's the latest from our travel group?

 

[abayaflowers]

We have three more ports to book SE's, which we plan to do it on our own. My DH is planning to visit Antibes to see the Original Picasso paintings. Then, my DD's and I are going to hang out at the Lounge Beach which is a private beach club and it has a restaurant. I heard that this is the way to go if you don't want to venture to the public beaches. There is a fee for each person. I haven't spoke to them directly, but many have told me that it costs between $20 to $30 a person. The restaurant is apparently good not excellent, but in this case, my DD's won't know the difference.

It's mid-June... almost there in Barcelona. I can feel it!

 

[xsjackson]

Is the Lounge Beach in Barcelona? Anyone here anything that we can do in Corsica?

I can't believe how cold it is here in the pacific Northwest. We hit 70 degrees yeaterday with no rain - that is until evening now its been pouring all night and still raining now. Can't wait for summer to actually arrive - maybe with some sun.

School is out in a week. yeah!

 

[abayaflowers]

Is the Lounge Beach in Barcelona? Anyone here anything that we can do in Corsica?

I can't believe how cold it is here in the pacific Northwest. We hit 70 degrees yeaterday with no rain - that is until evening now its been pouring all night and still raining now. Can't wait for summer to actually arrive - maybe with some sun.

School is out in a week. yeah!

The Lounge Beach is in Villefranche. As for Corsica, we are still working on that part.

In our area, Bay Area in Northern California, it is finally warming up. I hope the weather is good for us in Europe. I heard it is the hottest month to visit.

 

[Allesma]

Is anyone considering to cancel and rebook? I was considering to take 2 cat 12 instead of 1 cat 9 but DH wants to have his porthole and does not want to give up several reservations. What are you doing. I understand that it will cost you're deposit when you cancel within the 44-15 days before saling and youre insurance if you had these.

 

[dustermom02]

Cat 12 released at $999 ----Is anyone considering to cancel and rebook? I was considering to take 2 cat 12 instead of 1 cat 9 but DH wants to have his porthole and does not want to give up several reservations. What are you doing. I understand that it will cost you're deposit when you cancel within the 44-15 days before saling and youre insurance if you had these.

Allesma - Where do I go to find out about this? We're already in a cat 11 if we could save $$ I'd go to a cat 12. Wouldn't bother me in the least.

 

[LisaWalkerC21]

I just peeked at Category 6 which we reserved and that price has actually gone up.

 

[Allesma]

Allesma - Where do I go to find out about this? We're already in a cat 11 if we could save $$ I'd go to a cat 12. Wouldn't bother me in the least.

Just go to the DCL site and look at the special offers for the European cruises or contact your TA

 

[Allesma]

I just peeked at Category 6 which we reserved and that price has actually gone up.

I can imagne that because the balconies are very popular. Because the ship is not full, the cat 9's next to us are still empty, they have started to offer the virtual cat 12 even for 4 p (they do not even have these available, 4 p rooms start at cat 11).

 

[dustermom02]

Because the ship is not full, the cat 9's next to us are still empty, they have started to offer the virtual cat 12 even for 4 p (they do not even have these available, 4 p rooms start at cat 11).

A Virtual cat 12? I didn't even realize they did that sort of a thing to fill the ship. I emailed my TA last night to ask about it and she said she'll get back to me when Dis opens today and find out what they're doing. That would be a huge savings for me but I read that a lot of those cabins can be really noisy.

It looks like the price of my exact category went down from what I paid too. That's not good.