August 7th, 2010 Mediterranean Cruise

[abayaflowers]

WE were having a hard time with the costs for the tours as well, and went on-line (as reccomended by cruisers of the May Cruise) and were able to get private tours for much less. (We are paying Apprx $600 for 4 of us for all day, including admissions and no line's, plus time to shop and eat on our own.) About $400.00 cheaper than Disney tours and it's more flexible. There were cheaper options too, but For Rome we want to try and see it all

Yes, I agree. We could not afford the Italian port DCL SE's. So, we decided on the private tours. We have a tour scheduled for Vatican at 9:30 a.m. One quoted $200 for a private tour guide for the Vatican and the Colosseum. Then, if that falls through, we have a backup of $45 EUROS for adults and $12 EUROS for children through another private tour of the Vatican. No lines, too! I am still trying to research Ajaccio, because the beaches, I was told, are extremely gorgeous, especially Calvi.

 

[DeDe711]

Hi all...

I just talked to the Disney folks, and here's a list of the movies that will be showing on our cruise:

UP
Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 - 3D
Old Dogs
Princess and the Frog
When in Rome
Alice in Wonderland - 3D
Oceans
Sorcerer's Apprentice
Step Up - 3D (Premiere on August 6)

 

[GreekMinnie]

Thanks to you and everyone! It's actually working, my daughter's fever broke, and my migraine slowly disappeared. Whew! We were all panicking. Now, back to packing.

I have a clothing question, I have white pants (cotton) which I love, because it goes with 5 tops and my black sandals. So, that's 5 dinner attires for me. Is it crazy to wear it at night? Will I be too hot? Or should I just stick with white shorts and black shorts to mix and match with these 5 tops.

Thanks for any advice for those who travelled in the med before.

Glad you and your daughter are feeling better!

I think long pants at night are fine. Usually most of the time is indoors which is air conditioned so you should be comfortable. What about white pants and black shorts to mix and match? I have not traveled the med before, but on other Disney cruises this worked well.

 

[abayaflowers]

Hi all...

I just talked to the Disney folks, and here's a list of the movies that will be showing on our cruise:

UP
Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 - 3D
Old Dogs
Princess and the Frog
When in Rome
Alice in Wonderland - 3D
Oceans
Sorcerer's Apprentice
Step Up - 3D (Premiere on August 6)

I just showed the list to the DD's and they SO excited. They already have them picked out. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[abayaflowers]

Glad you and your daughter are feeling better!

I think long pants at night are fine. Usually most of the time is indoors which is air conditioned so you should be comfortable. What about white pants and black shorts to mix and match? I have not traveled the med before, but on other Disney cruises this worked well.

Thanks for the idea. I don't want to overpack. I really want to stick to one suitcase for check-in, but I don't want to go over the weight limit. So, we might be stuck with two suitcases.

Again, thanks for the idea!

 

[xsjackson]

Thanks to you and everyone! It's actually working, my daughter's fever broke, and my migraine slowly disappeared. Whew! We were all panicking. Now, back to packing.

I have a clothing question, I have white pants (cotton) which I love, because it goes with 5 tops and my black sandals. So, that's 5 dinner attires for me. Is it crazy to wear it at night? Will I be too hot? Or should I just stick with white shorts and black shorts to mix and match with these 5 tops.

Thanks for any advice for those who travelled in the med before.

I packed white pants too!

 

[WINIFISH]

If anyone still has room on a private tour on the Aug. 7th Med cruise, we are looking to join or arrange such in Rome. Have 2 adults and 2 kids, dd 9 and ds 8.

 

[abayaflowers]

If anyone still has room on a private tour on the Aug. 7th Med cruise, we are looking to join or arrange such in Rome. Have 2 adults and 2 kids, dd 9 and ds 8.

What tours were you interested? The reason why I asked is because my DD10 and I are trying to book a private tour of the Vatican and the Colosseum. They quoted us $200 for 4 people. If you want to join us, we are taking the train into town. The tour is suppose to start at 9:30 a.m. Tickets to the Vatican are not included. The Colosseum tickets is found on Roma Pass. My DH and DD7 will not be joining us until the Colosseum. If you and your family are interested, I can ask our tour guide how much it will cost for 4 more people.

Let me know.

 

[bex1stcruise]

What tours were you interested? The reason why I asked is because my DD10 and I are trying to book a private tour of the Vatican and the Colosseum. They quoted us $200 for 4 people. If you want to join us, we are taking the train into town. The tour is suppose to start at 9:30 a.m. Tickets to the Vatican are not included. The Colosseum tickets is found on Roma Pass. My DH and DD7 will not be joining us until the Colosseum. If you and your family are interested, I can ask our tour guide how much it will cost for 4 more people.

Let me know.

So I'm trying to decide whether to book a private tour as well, or just try to find skip the line tickets. Would you mind sharing with me what company you are using/where you are getting tickets from?? We are planning on taking the train into Rome as well. $200 for 4 people doesn't sound bad at all. My indecision is killing me though at this point!!!

 

[abayaflowers]

So I'm trying to decide whether to book a private tour as well, or just try to find skip the line tickets. Would you mind sharing with me what company you are using/where you are getting tickets from?? We are planning on taking the train into Rome as well. $200 for 4 people doesn't sound bad at all. My indecision is killing me though at this point!!!

I am trying to send you a Private Message (PM), but there's not an option. I prefer to send it through this manner instead of posting it. Do you have it turned off on your account/profile?

I was thinking of skipping the lines, because I can narrate to my DD10 about all the paintings. Art History was one of my degrees from college. But, I know that she doesn't want to listen to what I know. I hired the tour company, because she is a licensed Art Historian. She can, apparently get us through everything. And get us through the crowds. Then, she will be taking us to the Colosseum where we will be meeting up with my DH and DD7 for a tour of that one.

The BIRG ticket is the one which you want to purchase to get into town, and purchase it from the newstand on the right when you get in the train station. It is 4 blocks from the port. But, remember to take the shuttle from the boat to the entrance of the port. It's long.

Then, get off on S. Petria (speling?)station. Apparently, termini is farther and you will have to take the Metro back to the Vatican.

Everyone has told me to plan for 1 1/2 to get from Civitavecchia to Rome.

Remember, the strict dress code - covered shoulders, no shorts, and covered knees.

 

[xsjackson]

I am trying to send you a Private Message (PM), but there's not an option. I prefer to send it through this manner instead of posting it. Do you have it turned off on your account/profile?

I was thinking of skipping the lines, because I can narrate to my DD10 about all the paintings. Art History was one of my degrees from college. But, I know that she doesn't want to listen to what I know. I hired the tour company, because she is a licensed Art Historian. She can, apparently get us through everything. And get us through the crowds. Then, she will be taking us to the Colosseum where we will be meeting up with my DH and DD7 for a tour of that one.

The BIRG ticket is the one which you want to purchase to get into town, and purchase it from the newstand on the right when you get in the train station. It is 4 blocks from the port. But, remember to take the shuttle from the boat to the entrance of the port. It's long.

Then, get off on S. Petria (speling?)station. Apparently, termini is farther and you will have to take the Metro back to the Vatican.

Everyone has told me to plan for 1 1/2 to get from Civitavecchia to Rome.

Remember, the strict dress code - covered shoulders, no shorts, and covered knees.

My husband and I hae been chit-chatting and yes. We hired transportation when we took a cruise out of civitavecchia last July. It took90 min to 2 hours or more if there is traffic. The port and rme ar NOT close.

 

[xsjackson]

you also need to take a bus (port transit from the ship to the front of the port and its about a 1/2 mile to transportation from there.

 

[GW45]

Anyone planning on doing Carthage or Sidi Bou Said on their own? Don't really want to be tied to any more long excursions (have a feeling the kids 5 and 9 will revolt!) and even though the DCL excursion to both Carthage and Sidi Bou Said are only 5 1/2 hrs long thats more than I think the kids will be up for. They're coming with us on the ones to Pompeii/Sorrento and the Villefranche tour of Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo plus I've a feeling we'll be dragging them around Rome but we're doing that ourselves which will be easier. I've been to Tunisia twice before and know the purpose built resorts like Hammamet and Port El kantoui -lovely and very fancy hotels but very fake compared to the real Tunisia you see in the hectic but squalid town of Sousse. Both Carthage and Sidi B.Said seem very close to the port according to the excursion itinerary so figured it would be okay to just take a taxi to Carthage, spend an hour or so there, another one to Sidi Bou Said for a stroll around and then head back to the ship.
I know we could leave the kids on the ship in their clubs but I wouldn't be comfortable being very far from the ship if they weren't with us. We left ds in the Oceaneers Club when we got off in Nassau when he was 6 but were back on the ship 2 hrs later as I didn't think much of Nassau and just felt uncomfortable. Not being an over anxious parent.....ds has a peanut allergy and just feel I need to be within easy reach in case he were to have an attack. Has never happened yet but don't want to be on a tour bus hours away from him if it did happen! If we do it ourselves we could see Carthage (my main interest) with the kids but still not tire them out and give ourselves plenty of relaxing time on the ship too.
Has anyone done that or plan to do it?

 

[abayaflowers]

Anyone planning on doing Carthage or Sidi Bou Said on their own? Don't really want to be tied to any more long excursions (have a feeling the kids 5 and 9 will revolt!) and even though the DCL excursion to both Carthage and Sidi Bou Said are only 5 1/2 hrs long thats more than I think the kids will be up for. They're coming with us on the ones to Pompeii/Sorrento and the Villefranche tour of Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo plus I've a feeling we'll be dragging them around Rome but we're doing that ourselves which will be easier. I've been to Tunisia twice before and know the purpose built resorts like Hammamet and Port El kantoui -lovely and very fancy hotels but very fake compared to the real Tunisia you see in the hectic but squalid town of Sousse. Both Carthage and Sidi B.Said seem very close to the port according to the excursion itinerary so figured it would be okay to just take a taxi to Carthage, spend an hour or so there, another one to Sidi Bou Said for a stroll around and then head back to the ship.
I know we could leave the kids on the ship in their clubs but I wouldn't be comfortable being very far from the ship if they weren't with us. We left ds in the Oceaneers Club when we got off in Nassau when he was 6 but were back on the ship 2 hrs later as I didn't think much of Nassau and just felt uncomfortable. Not being an over anxious parent.....ds has a peanut allergy and just feel I need to be within easy reach in case he were to have an attack. Has never happened yet but don't want to be on a tour bus hours away from him if it did happen! If we do it ourselves we could see Carthage (my main interest) with the kids but still not tire them out and give ourselves plenty of relaxing time on the ship too.
Has anyone done that or plan to do it?

My DH, my best-friend, and her husband are planning to do the DCL Sidi Bou Said and Carthage. I heard that it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I will not be getting off the ship. I will be staying back with our DD10, DD7, and our friends DD's (3 of them), because it would be terrible to see them all have a "nucleur meltdown" in a country where a Type A mom, who would be me, will also have a meltdown.
So, my DH is absolutely looking forward to it. He really wants to try the taxi, but I heard that you would have to be a strong personality to handle all the taxi propositions. Then, we compromised and he decided on the DCL excursion of Sidi Bou Said and Carthage with our very good friends.

My DD7 also has severe food allergies (milk - epi-pen, jr. required if ingested in anyway, corn & its bi-products, mangoes, onions, lettuce, broccoli, blueberries, raspberries). I just couldn't see her on the trip, because she would ask for something to eat which I don't know if any of the Tunisian food is free of all the food which she is allergic.

I think that it would be fun. Many discruisers have said that it was fun. But, I do not recall anyone with children commenting on the trip. Maybe, someone on the discruise reports has something to say on that one.

 

[abayaflowers]

If you booked at 1800Hotels.com, call the hotel and check on your reservation immediately.

They filed for bankruptcy in Florida last week. I found this out because my DW asked me to call our hotel in Barcelona, where we are staying one day before and after our cruise, to make sure we are getting the corrct size room four our family and found out our reseervation was cancelled.

We were able to rebook on our own, but at a higher rate.

I also called our credit card company ad they will be refunding our money.

For some reason, this hasn't received much press in the US, but has been in the news in Ireland (where the parent company is also having financial problems).

Had my wife not asked me to check, we would never have known until we tried to check in.

The website says nothing about the financial issues and there is not answer at customer service.

FYI - For our discruisers who booked through 1800hotels.com. Please read the above posting.

You don't want to be stuck in Barcelona without a hotel.

 

[GW45]

Gosh, they're tough allergies to deal with. It must be very hard to avoid milk and onions in food. While the peanut one is bad and with his high level of sensitivity it could be fatal we've been lucky so far that we've managed to keep him away from nuts and he can still eat a lot of things safely. Everytime his Epipens expire I always feel relieved that we haven't had an emergency yet. It was fine on the last Disney cruise but I really am trying to avoid eating when off the ship....Italy should be okay but wouldn't risk it inTunisia.

Will check out the Cruise reports.

 

[GW45]

FYI - For our discruisers who booked through 1800hotels.com. Please read the above posting.

You don't want to be stuck in Barcelona without a hotel.

That was big news here in Ireland last month when 1-800Hotels.ie went bust. Didn't know it was an Irish company, thought it was affiliated with a parent company in the US. We've used them before and got very good rates but thankfully this time we booked directly with the hotel.

 

[xsjackson]

Anyone planning on doing Carthage or Sidi Bou Said on their own? Don't really want to be tied to any more long excursions (have a feeling the kids 5 and 9 will revolt!) and even though the DCL excursion to both Carthage and Sidi Bou Said are only 5 1/2 hrs long thats more than I think the kids will be up for. They're coming with us on the ones to Pompeii/Sorrento and the Villefranche tour of Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo plus I've a feeling we'll be dragging them around Rome but we're doing that ourselves which will be easier. I've been to Tunisia twice before and know the purpose built resorts like Hammamet and Port El kantoui -lovely and very fancy hotels but very fake compared to the real Tunisia you see in the hectic but squalid town of Sousse. Both Carthage and Sidi B.Said seem very close to the port according to the excursion itinerary so figured it would be okay to just take a taxi to Carthage, spend an hour or so there, another one to Sidi Bou Said for a stroll around and then head back to the ship.
I know we could leave the kids on the ship in their clubs but I wouldn't be comfortable being very far from the ship if they weren't with us. We left ds in the Oceaneers Club when we got off in Nassau when he was 6 but were back on the ship 2 hrs later as I didn't think much of Nassau and just felt uncomfortable. Not being an over anxious parent.....ds has a peanut allergy and just feel I need to be within easy reach in case he were to have an attack. Has never happened yet but don't want to be on a tour bus hours away from him if it did happen! If we do it ourselves we could see Carthage (my main interest) with the kids but still not tire them out and give ourselves plenty of relaxing time on the ship too.
Has anyone done that or plan to do it?

We are doing Carthage only. And only the 2 older kids (12 DS and 10dd), my dad, my siste, and myself. I teach history and have a masters degree in European History. My daughter is a junior in European History at PENN and is very jealous that we get to see Carthage. I have been looking up the history and legends and we are very excited. Two younger kids begged to stay on ship and we are touring with Disney because if their is a problem Disney will contact us and take care of us - happened to me 5 years ago on a 12 hr tour to Tulum, Mexico. They got hold of me and had me talk to my son on the ship. It was great and itwas all just a 10 yr old with nerves.

 

[abayaflowers]

We are doing Carthage only. And only the 2 older kids (12 DS and 10dd), my dad, my siste, and myself. I teach history and have a masters degree in European History. My daughter is a junior in European History at PENN and is very jealous that we get to see Carthage. I have been looking up the history and legends and we are very excited. Two younger kids begged to stay on ship and we are touring with Disney because if their is a problem Disney will contact us and take care of us - happened to me 5 years ago on a 12 hr tour to Tulum, Mexico. They got hold of me and had me talk to my son on the ship. It was great and itwas all just a 10 yr old with nerves.

It must be neat to go on these ports. I bet it is really neat to hear you speak when visiting these sites. My husband is an architect and loves to see all the buildings. He graduated from UC Berkeley and they were required to study all European architecture including the art. This is going to be a great experience for all of us.

 

[abayaflowers]

Gosh, they're tough allergies to deal with. It must be very hard to avoid milk and onions in food. While the peanut one is bad and with his high level of sensitivity it could be fatal we've been lucky so far that we've managed to keep him away from nuts and he can still eat a lot of things safely. Everytime his Epipens expire I always feel relieved that we haven't had an emergency yet. It was fine on the last Disney cruise but I really am trying to avoid eating when off the ship....Italy should be okay but wouldn't risk it inTunisia.

Will check out the Cruise reports.

I know the feeling. I have the opposite allergies of my DD. I am highly allergic to all nuts, soy, fish, and strawberries. It's a little crazy when I cook, because I have to cook everything fresh at home. We hardly eat out.

I just went through another expired Epi-pen, jr. Just crossing my fingers. I also spoke to DCV's Medical Special Services Specialist, and she was so great to talk about my DD7's needs. She has made sure that my DD can have her epi-pen, jr. and inhaler bags with her at the front desk of the Oceaneer's Club. They also have Rice Dream ice cream.

I just found that DCL is so great in accommodating our allergies.