August 7th, 2010 Mediterranean Cruise

[Travelbee]

Julie - that's cool. It's always nice to know your neighbors - although we're almost never in the room. Do you have any kids around 7? And I'm sure I'll have tons of question for you when it gets closer since you've done the Med cruise before. That and the repo... I'm jealous!

KaseyC - it'll be great for our girls to meet up... DD doesn't like to go to the kids club unless there's someone to go with her.

 

[bellelinus]

Julie - that's cool. It's always nice to know your neighbors - although we're almost never in the room. Do you have any kids around 7? And I'm sure I'll have tons of question for you when it gets closer since you've done the Med cruise before. That and the repo... I'm jealous!

KaseyC - it'll be great for our girls to meet up... DD doesn't like to go to the kids club unless there's someone to go with her.

No, my girls are older -- but it is nice to know neighbors nonetheless! As we get closer to time, I'm sure our discussions here will become more and more information-related.

 

[mndisfam]

travelbee - the question about this being a port intensive trip is interesting. Def. my problem, and my kids are older than yours will be! They will be 14 and 11.

DH and I are go-go on vacation - then collapse at night and miss dinner if we want. Hey - its not like any one ever starves on the boat. Our kids, my DD esp., get overwhelmed. And of course, they show it by sulking and throwing fits. Anyone with me on our Aruba excursion, I will still apologize. I am usually easy going, but then I have to be mean and sternly tell kids to "shape up, or ship out," which of course is an empty threat bcs what can you do to time out someone on an excursion?

I have soo many pictures of us on some shore excursion and I am disciplining a kid, instead of looking at the sites. . Makes for great memories int he old scrapbook. Problem is, we never know if/when these meltdowns will happen.

Anyhoo, we are trying desperately to realize on this trip, we can't see it all, and are trying to convince ourselves we will be back to some ports - Rome, Florence, for extended periods of time. So, we may just really take some excursions/days/ very lightly.

I know this is sacreligious to admit, but we may skip Florence all together, even tho I have never been. It will be around that be push with no sea days Malta, Naples, Tunis, Rome, Florence. That is going to be a tough push for the kids, and I think we will visit Cinque Terre instead. Other option is to leave kids on the boat that day, but that would be boring if none of their friends are there, and DH anf I could go to Florence.

I will try to keep telling myself, 1) You can't see it all 2) the ship is an enjoyable vacation too 3) We will be back 4) No one has fun when mom is stressed disciplining the kids...Yes, I will keep drinking my kool aid.

That was great on the PC cruise = 9 sea days.

I have heard it will be really hot in August where we are - will it be any worse than the PC cruise. ??

 

[bellelinus]

travelbee - the question about this being a port intensive trip is interesting. Def. my problem, and my kids are older than yours will be! They will be 14 and 11.

DH and I are go-go on vacation - then collapse at night and miss dinner if we want. Hey - its not like any one ever starves on the boat. Our kids, my DD esp., get overwhelmed. And of course, they show it by sulking and throwing fits. Anyone with me on our Aruba excursion, I will still apologize. I am usually easy going, but then I have to be mean and sternly tell kids to "shape up, or ship out," which of course is an empty threat bcs what can you do to time out someone on an excursion?

I have soo many pictures of us on some shore excursion and I am disciplining a kid, instead of looking at the sites. . Makes for great memories int he old scrapbook. Problem is, we never know if/when these meltdowns will happen.

Anyhoo, we are trying desperately to realize on this trip, we can't see it all, and are trying to convince ourselves we will be back to some ports - Rome, Florence, for extended periods of time. So, we may just really take some excursions/days/ very lightly.

I know this is sacreligious to admit, but we may skip Florence all together, even tho I have never been. It will be around that be push with no sea days Malta, Naples, Tunis, Rome, Florence. That is going to be a tough push for the kids, and I think we will visit Cinque Terre instead. Other option is to leave kids on the boat that day, but that would be boring if none of their friends are there, and DH anf I could go to Florence.

I will try to keep telling myself, 1) You can't see it all 2) the ship is an enjoyable vacation too 3) We will be back 4) No one has fun when mom is stressed disciplining the kids...Yes, I will keep drinking my kool aid.

That was great on the PC cruise = 9 sea days.

I have heard it will be really hot in August where we are - will it be any worse than the PC cruise. ??

When we were there last summer, it was approximately the same time of year, and the only port that was even close to the PC cruise heat was Palermo (where we aren't going this time) . . . of course I don't know about Malta and Tunis. Rome was moderately hot but not terrible. THe other ports were plesantly warm.

I would hate to see you miss Florence, which was my favorite place on the Med cruise last year, but I do know that no one has a good time if anyone gets too worn out to enjoy things. Having the kids stay on the ship could be a good alternative -- lots of people leave their kids on the ship for those days when you go a long way from the port.

 

[MrsJobba1]

Hi

I think tunis will be very hot - I was there last feb and it was warm- although when I was sitting by the pool in shorts and vest top, the locals were wearing big coats and jumpers as it was there winter

We will miss Florence and Rome but its not a real problem for us as we have said we would like to visit there on our own possibly for a weekend break and fly directly there.

 

[Travelbee]

Thanks for all the great advice! My DH says the same thing about taking light excursions - so we'll probably not make it to Florence either and opt for Cinque Terre. My DH's philosophy is the cruise will give us a good idea of which destination we'd return to by land. This will give us half days sight seeing and then get back to the ship where DD can enjoy herself. Although at these prices, I almost feel pressure to get more in. I am still shocked at the prices - did a quick comparison on another cruise line - and found a similar itinerary with a balcony for $2k less. Airfare will probably cost us an arm and a leg coming from LA.

 

[mndisfam]

You know, its a long way away, but, like I said, I do think about missing Florence and seeing Cinque Terre - which might be hard to see in future visits to Italy, and I weigh that against leaving the kids on board and having DH and I go to Florence alone...

I THINK I have a much better chance of getting back to Florence, than Cinque Terre.

I know it seems a long way away. But the PC cruise was like that for us. We booked around my bday, on 1/31/07. We didn't board until 8/17/08. In that time, i researched, pondered, budgeted, planned...I think everyone else did too!

And, I don't think I planned enough. This trip has so many different countries and cultures, I want to be fully ready and informed...

It was kind of a let down after the PC cruise to have nothing to look forward to. i am so glad this came along.

I am reading a lot of cruise critics...need to read some of the reports from DIS too.

 

[mndisfam]

Gee, what happened to our thread? Is everyone exhausted from Election Day?

We had lines at our polling place but not when I was there.

What ports is everyone most looking forward to on this trip? I am excited to see the D-Day beaches and Gibraltar...

I am learning about the Spanish ports. Saw a Samantha Brown episode about Lisbon - looks really neat. I have been DVRing Military episodes about Normandy and D-Day for my son and I...

Anyone have comments about the Spanish ports? I have started to lightly research those...

 

[bellelinus]

Gee, what happened to our thread? Is everyone exhausted from Election Day?

We had lines at our polling place but not when I was there.

What ports is everyone most looking forward to on this trip? I am excited to see the D-Day beaches and Gibraltar...

I am learning about the Spanish ports. Saw a Samantha Brown episode about Lisbon - looks really neat. I have been DVRing Military episodes about Normandy and D-Day for my son and I...

Anyone have comments about the Spanish ports? I have started to lightly research those...

THis isn't the thread for the repo with these ports, right? The only Spanish port on this cruise will be Barcelona.

 

[mndisfam]

Yes, as I wrote on the other cruise thread...never will post early am without coffee!!!

I am glad to read the posts about the heat not being worse than PC in August (hopefully...) Obviously, living where we do, we don't thrive in heat.

 

[bellelinus]

Yes, as I wrote on the other cruise thread...never will post early am without coffee!!!

I am glad to read the posts about the heat not being worse than PC in August (hopefully...) Obviously, living where we do, we don't thrive in heat.

Yes, from what I can tell, Tunis might be the only real possibility for serious heat, although the range in Rome and Florence (since they are inland) can be significant. My experience last year was that it was not that hot ever near the Med, and only Palermo was stifling. Now we went to Paris after the Med cruise and they had the coldest weather in record for August, so we were not prepared for that (being cold while wearing light sweaters and pashminas), and you just can't plan for freakish weather.

 

[winnyis]

If anyone is looking for an SPR for this cruise - I just cancelled my ressie for this cruise and SPR 5522 is now available.

While I would have loved to go on this cruise we decided as a family that we would really like to do Hawaii before Europe so we will be doing 2 weeks in Hawaii in August 2010. I hope you all have a great trip

 

[mndisfam]

wow - I had to look up a pashmina. Is it like a shawl you can wear lots of designer ways? I am never good at stuff like that.

 

[bellelinus]

If anyone is looking for an SPR for this cruise - I just cancelled my ressie for this cruise and SPR 5522 is now available.

While I would have loved to go on this cruise we decided as a family that we would really like to do Hawaii before Europe so we will be doing 2 weeks in Hawaii in August 2010. I hope you all have a great trip

Sorry you won't be going! Hawaii sounds wonderful, though.

 

[bellelinus]

wow - I had to look up a pashmina. Is it like a shawl you can wear lots of designer ways? I am never good at stuff like that.

Yes, that's pretty much it -- can be used as a scarf or a wrap -- here's a photo of me coming out of the tower at Notre Dame with one around my neck:

 

[mndisfam]

Boy Julie - are you coordinated while you travel. Even to the purse! How do you do that with luggage restrictions?

 

[MrsJobba1]

Hi everyone

Its Friday

Sorry had a hard week at work and needed to celebrate - not long for those of you in USA till 5pm

I am really looking forward to Tunisa, and Malta.

My grandad served in WW2 on Malta and have wanted to visit there for a while.

Off to have tea

 

[bellelinus]

Boy Julie - are you coordinated while you travel. Even to the purse! How do you do that with luggage restrictions?

Very, very limited color palate and making sure everything goes with everything else . . . Literally, when we get closer to time I can share with you the entire packing list I used last year to spend over a month in Europe. I was able to fly from Barcelona to Paris and back with those very limited baggage restrictions, too. I bought the purse in Barcelona, by the way, and it was the only thing I carried around (I knew I wanted to get leather goods there so I didn't bring anything for a bag/purse).

 

[Travelbee]

Boy Julie - are you coordinated while you travel. Even to the purse! How do you do that with luggage restrictions?

Of course, didn't you notice she's from New York City? I watched Sex in the City religiously... it's nothing like the tank top and khaki we wear in LA!

 

[bellelinus]

Of course, didn't you notice she's from New York City? I watched Sex in the City religiously... it's nothing like the tank top and khaki we wear in LA!

I don't recommend Manolo Blahniks or Christian Louboutin for walking on cobblestones in Europe, though!