August 7th, 2010 Mediterranean Cruise

[MrsJobba1]

Helen, as we get closer to time you are going to be our Tunisia expert!

No Problem

I was thinking we need a name for our cruise - anyone got any ideas?

My suggestion - Magnificent Mediterranean Magic - can you tell I've been teaching alliteration today

 

[Disney Fool]

Sounds good to me!

 

[magicgg]

Hi everyone just joining this thread. We are in two cat. 8's on deck 5. Looking forward to doing the Med again. Love the new port choices. Now just trying to decide if were staying after to do a little more traveling. Half of us want to do Venice the other half wants to do Greece. I really need that money tree in my backyard to grow a little faster to pay for this new TOAL.
Genny

 

[MrsJobba1]

Hi everyone just joining this thread. We are in two cat. 8's on deck 5. Looking forward to doing the Med again. Love the new port choices. Now just trying to decide if were staying after to do a little more traveling. Half of us want to do Venice the other half wants to do Greece. I really need that money tree in my backyard to grow a little faster to pay for this new TOAL.
Genny

Hi Genny,

welcome to the thread

 

[kaseyC]

Hi everyone just joining this thread. We are in two cat. 8's on deck 5. Looking forward to doing the Med again. Love the new port choices. Now just trying to decide if were staying after to do a little more traveling. Half of us want to do Venice the other half wants to do Greece. I really need that money tree in my backyard to grow a little faster to pay for this new TOAL.
Genny

Welcome Genny!!

 

[bellelinus]

Hi everyone just joining this thread. We are in two cat. 8's on deck 5. Looking forward to doing the Med again. Love the new port choices. Now just trying to decide if were staying after to do a little more traveling. Half of us want to do Venice the other half wants to do Greece. I really need that money tree in my backyard to grow a little faster to pay for this new TOAL.
Genny

Either choice sounds wonderful! Welcome to the thread

 

[magicgg]

Thanks for the welcome. It is hard to believe this trip is a year and a half away. But it will be here before we know it. I felt this way about the EBPC and all of a sudden it was here and over. Looking forward to hearing about everyones travel plans and travel deals. Are you booking your own excursions or doing DCL? We did Dcl last time but this time would like to book our own. Genny

 

[bellelinus]

Thanks for the welcome. It is hard to believe this trip is a year and a half away. But it will be here before we know it. I felt this way about the EBPC and all of a sudden it was here and over. Looking forward to hearing about everyones travel plans and travel deals. Are you booking your own excursions or doing DCL? We did Dcl last time but this time would like to book our own. Genny

I'm definitely doing my own -- I didn't do any DCL excursions in Europe last year. The only place I will not just get around on my own is St. Petersburg and I will likely go for a private tour there.

 

[magicgg]

Julie, how did you choose what private tour co. you were going to go with?
That is the only thing i am a little worried about. I know lots of cruisers had great success doing their own. I did see a thread that did list a few private co. I will have to see if I can find it. Genny

 

[bellelinus]

Julie, how did you choose what private tour co. you were going to go with?
That is the only thing i am a little worried about. I know lots of cruisers had great success doing their own. I did see a thread that did list a few private co. I will have to see if I can find it. Genny

The only port I did a private tour with was La Spezia, because I wanted to go to Pisa and Florence, and it would be difficult to do both without renting a car -- and you can't drive a car into Florence without a special permit -- and trains wouldn't leave enough time. I looked at recommendations and ended up with a very nice experience with the driver I was given.

All other ports I did on my own -- trains, taxis, walking, etc. This time I plan to do Cinque Terre via train instead of Pisa/Florence, so I don't intend to do any private tours.

A friend of mine from last year's Med cruise, Andrew, did all private tours and has a lot of info that i can get to you regarding the ones he used if you are interested.

On the Baltic cruise I am on in 2010, I will do the private tour in St Petersburg through one of the reputable companies -- Red October, Denrus, Alla, or Anastasia. I will probably get quotes from a few and see who I feel most comfortable with. All other ports I will do on my own.

 

[mndisfam]

Not to stir the pot here, before we all get to be friends, but is anyone worried about private tours accidentally NOT getting you back to the boat on time? And then, of course, the boat won't wait for you bcs its not their tour...

Just read a big thread about this on Med cruises over in Cruise Critics.

It does happen - not a lot of course. And I have never read of it being any other reasons than an unavoidable delay...traffic, train issues, whatever.

Last year, when we cruised on RCCI, I asked an officer about that exact issue. He said it is a problem, but not a big one at all in the Carib. (ie - tour companies don't get back on time..._) Happens very occasionally. Most of the time (as we have seen) most people who don't get back to the boat in time are just knuckleheads.

He did tell me, however, it can be quite a problem in Europe. He said its not at all unusual for many shore excyrsions to be quite a distance from the boat, and its unusual for busses or trains bringing people back to be late. He said, of course, we always wait for the RCCI groups, but not always for others.

A lot of you have cruised Europe before - we haven't. Any thought on this?

Another big thread suggested leaving ANY good jewelry at home bcs of pickpockets, etc. I know my dear mother was pickpocketed last month in Rome!!!

 

[MrsJobba1]

Not to stir the pot here, before we all get to be friends, but is anyone worried about private tours accidentally NOT getting you back to the boat on time? And then, of course, the boat won't wait for you bcs its not their tour...

Just read a big thread about this on Med cruises over in Cruise Critics.

It does happen - not a lot of course. And I have never read of it being any other reasons than an unavoidable delay...traffic, train issues, whatever.

Last year, when we cruised on RCCI, I asked an officer about that exact issue. He said it is a problem, but not a big one at all in the Carib. (ie - tour companies don't get back on time..._) Happens very occasionally. Most of the time (as we have seen) most people who don't get back to the boat in time are just knuckleheads.

He did tell me, however, it can be quite a problem in Europe. He said its not at all unusual for many shore excyrsions to be quite a distance from the boat, and its unusual for busses or trains bringing people back to be late. He said, of course, we always wait for the RCCI groups, but not always for others.

A lot of you have cruised Europe before - we haven't. Any thought on this?

Another big thread suggested leaving ANY good jewelry at home bcs of pickpockets, etc. I know my dear mother was pickpocketed last month in Rome!!!

Hi

I am a big worrier - and the excursions we did last time were all DCL.

I would hate to miss the boat - I know in the past when I've gone to spain on holiday and used local transport -sometimes it is very laid back and casual and late - thats not a problem if we are at a hotel but when its a ship that leaves - I would rather not take the chance.

I am the person who flies at least 2 days in advance in case of delays. Even the short haul to barcelona!

We have been to the states many times now and I think only a of couple times we have arrived without delay . The longest delay I had was 13hrs - nightmare trip.

As for pickpockets - Barcelona is really bad -we witnessed some people trying to get our friends bad but we were walking behind them and shouted.

We had no problems - I even purchased a money belt for my dh to wear under his trousers and a slash proof bag for myself -which was brilliant.

One place where you need the bling is the casino at montecarlo -

We did the DCL adult only evening excursion there - wow was that an expereince - if you like car spotting its a must

 

[Displaced CA Girl]

Not to stir the pot here, before we all get to be friends, but is anyone worried about private tours accidentally NOT getting you back to the boat on time? And then, of course, the boat won't wait for you bcs its not their tour...

Just read a big thread about this on Med cruises over in Cruise Critics.

It does happen - not a lot of course. And I have never read of it being any other reasons than an unavoidable delay...traffic, train issues, whatever.

Last year, when we cruised on RCCI, I asked an officer about that exact issue. He said it is a problem, but not a big one at all in the Carib. (ie - tour companies don't get back on time..._) Happens very occasionally. Most of the time (as we have seen) most people who don't get back to the boat in time are just knuckleheads.

He did tell me, however, it can be quite a problem in Europe. He said its not at all unusual for many shore excyrsions to be quite a distance from the boat, and its unusual for busses or trains bringing people back to be late. He said, of course, we always wait for the RCCI groups, but not always for others.

A lot of you have cruised Europe before - we haven't. Any thought on this?

Another big thread suggested leaving ANY good jewelry at home bcs of pickpockets, etc. I know my dear mother was pickpocketed last month in Rome!!!

These are our worries, too! We read Andrew's notes on private tours with great interest. We just want to squeeze so much in but really don't want to miss the ship! I think we will just see what we can do leaving a large enough cushion (3hours maybe?) between the scheduled return time and the time we're supposed to be back on the ship.

I also know personally 3 people who were pick pocketed in Rome. We plan on leaving jewelry at home and were discussing bringing those prepaid credit cards so that if they are stolen, you only loose what money you had on that card at the time.

I can't believe a trip that is so far away occupies so many of my thoughts!! But then again, anticipation is so much of the fun!!

 

[MrsJobba1]

Here are some of our photos from the last med crusie

One of my door signs

Barcelona

 

[bellelinus]

Well, my thought is this -- if you will worry so much about making it back to the ship that you can't enjoy the day, you should just take DCL excursions. When I did the Med, I was never so far away that I couldn't get back to the ship using a different mode if something went wrong -- for example, if I couldn't get the train back from Sorrento, I could take the ferry. If I couldn't take the train back from Rome, I could take a taxi (and I had enough money with me to cover that if I had to). Never did I leave getting back until the last minute -- I was always on the ship an hour or more ahead of time, except for Cadiz, because my oldest daughter and I got off the ship and walked around a bit after dinner. We walked back to the ship about 30 minutes before all aboard time. For Florence, we had a private driver whose company makes its living doing this -- he knew how much time to leave so that we actually got to the ship an hour early rather than in the nick of time. If traffic had been worse, we would have had less time, but would have been fine.

If you have the temperament to handle it, I think seeing these places on your own and on your own schedule is the way to go. Personally I can't stand planned excursions! But I know that DCL makes a lot of money on them, and most people are very happy with the experience. So everyone should just do what will make them have the best experience possible.

 

[Displaced CA Girl]

Awesome pictures, Helen! Thanks for posting them!

 

[MrsJobba1]

Pisa

 

[mndisfam]

I DON"T have the temperament to not worry - I am a stressy, so we will probably just stick with the canned DLC versions. One thing in their favor for us is that the webcast said they will be tailoring some of the excursions for families with kids - that's us!! I am a sit back and leave the driving to us person. Turn key travel? Can't think of any other analogies.

On the PC cruise, we took all Disney excursions, and they were great, but our tablemates took private ones and many of theirs were better.

There are some fabulous tours out there, and great tour guides.

I wish I could travel as relaxed as you, Julie...!

That comment about the night excursion to Monte Carlo is very interesting. Even the bling I do have would def. be modest by those standards!!

I am def. going to get a money belt thing...

 

[mndisfam]

?s - what is a "slash bag"? Something you put in the "boot"?

And is Andrew Andrew Derek - we met him on the PC cruise...

 

[MrsJobba1]

I DON"T have the temperament to not worry - I am a stressy, so we will probably just stick with the canned DLC versions. One thing in their favor for us is that the webcast said they will be tailoring some of the excursions for families with kids - that's us!! I am a sit back and leave the driving to us person. Turn key travel? Can't think of any other analogies.

On the PC cruise, we took all Disney excursions, and they were great, but our tablemates took private ones and many of theirs were better.

There are some fabulous tours out there, and great tour guides.

I wish I could travel as relaxed as you, Julie...!

That comment about the night excursion to Monte Carlo is very interesting. Even the bling I do have would def. be modest by those standards!!

I am def. going to get a money belt thing...

I have some good fake lol

The money belt worked great for us

I am very like you I think. The DCL tours were very good. Although you probably could get better privately.