[b]june 1, 2013 magic med 7 day[/b]

[tinkertaylor05]

Just checking in to say I won't be on this cruise - in the end I couldn't make a back to back with the Transatlantic work for my leave dates, once the international travel was factored in Have a great time!

That's a shame but you're doing the TA so I don't feel too bad for you wish we could do the TA just doesn't work with dd's school calendar! Have a great time on the EBTA

Hello! We are so excited about the June 1 Med cruise! It's me, my DH Damon and DD Sophie, age 9. We are from Nashville. This will be our 3rd Disney cruise.

It's getting so close now in 20 weeks we'll be in Barcelona

I started out this booking with 2nd dining, changed it to 1st and then have been wait listed for over a month to get back onto 2nd Just got confirmation we're on 2nd so that's it no more changes!

I've still not started any major planning of excursions etc but I have made our fish extender. Am worried about dragging dd on too many boring and heavy excursions so many decisions to make, how's everybody doing with their planning?

 

[purplern]

I've still not started any major planning of excursions etc but I have made our fish extender. Am worried about dragging dd on too many boring and heavy excursions so many decisions to make, how's everybody doing with their planning?

We know what ones we would like to do. I researched them when we booked. I would like to do Lucca and Pisa but DS wants to do Florence and Pisa. Thought about splitting up and DH and DS do Florence and DD and I do Lucca but my Mom said its a family vacation stay together.

 

[heathervincent]

What is a fish extender?

 

[kikids]

Welcome heathervincent. I see there are a few people now with girls around the same age as my DD. She is 10 now but will turn 11 before the cruise. She is pretty shy at first but she loves to email, so heathervincent, krispykreme, and anyone else who might have a DD of similar age, let's get them in contact so they can hang out on 'at sea' days and maybe give the grown ups a few minutes where we don't have to worry about entertaining them! Send me a PM.

Tinkertaylor, we've got our excursions planned out and I agree, it's a bit challenging to figure out what they'll enjoy, how long they'll have energy, and combine that with everything I want to see. I did check out Barcelona and Rome DVD's from our library to show the family and get them excited. I was glad I watched them first! The BCN one was absolutely great and I think we'll watch it together this weekend but the Rome one almost put me to sleep - it was all soft music and video of ruin, after ruin, after ruin, with soft spoken narration. (yawn). The kids will refuse to leave the ship if I show that to them. So I'm going back to the library to choose a different version.

 

[goofs]

Welcome heathervincent. I see there are a few people now with girls around the same age as my DD. She is 10 now but will turn 11 before the cruise. She is pretty shy at first but she loves to email, so heathervincent, krispykreme, and anyone else who might have a DD of similar age, let's get them in contact so they can hang out on 'at sea' days and maybe give the grown ups a few minutes where we don't have to worry about entertaining them! Send me a PM.

Tinkertaylor, we've got our excursions planned out and I agree, it's a bit challenging to figure out what they'll enjoy, how long they'll have energy, and combine that with everything I want to see. I did check out Barcelona and Rome DVD's from our library to show the family and get them excited. I was glad I watched them first! The BCN one was absolutely great and I think we'll watch it together this weekend but the Rome one almost put me to sleep - it was all soft music and video of ruin, after ruin, after ruin, with soft spoken narration. (yawn). The kids will refuse to leave the ship if I show that to them. So I'm going back to the library to choose a different version.

My daughter posted on here,under my name, her names freya, shes 12, also shy and quite young for her age. Shes desperate to chat to kids before the cruise so she'll have "friends" on there

 

[JustAnnieNotHazel]

What is a fish extender?

On the first page of this thread there are a couple of links that explain about Fish Extenders
It's lots of fun and a great way to see the ship

 

[tinkertaylor05]

We know what ones we would like to do. I researched them when we booked. I would like to do Lucca and Pisa but DS wants to do Florence and Pisa. Thought about splitting up and DH and DS do Florence and DD and I do Lucca but my Mom said its a family vacation stay together.

Hmmmmm tough call, I guess you just have to do what works for your family, I think I'd probably be tempted o do the same in that situation and everyone do what they want

I'm going to sit down some point this week and try to firm up some of our plans, I know for sure I will do some kind of excursion in Rome. I'd like to try at the very least one port on our own, I really want to get a good balance of activities and not push it. I think I'd also like to do one of the quieter towns/villages in favour of a larger attraction one day oooooh I'm going to need to give this a lot of thought, planning heaven

 

[Kimtastic]

Just wanted to say hi to everyone and introduce ourselves now that we finally booked our flight.

It will be myself Kim and my husband Andrew. We are celebrating our 10 year date-aversary and his 30th b-day! We're both really excited for this cruise and meeting everyone.

 

[JustAnnieNotHazel]

Just wanted to say hi to everyone and introduce ourselves now that we finally booked our flight.

It will be myself Kim and my husband Andrew. We are celebrating our 10 year date-aversary and his 30th b-day! We're both really excited for this cruise and meeting everyone.

Welcome

Sounds like you'll have lots to celebrate on board

 

[newmommie77]

That's a shame but you're doing the TA so I don't feel too bad for you wish we could do the TA just doesn't work with dd's school calendar! Have a great time on the EBTA



It's getting so close now in 20 weeks we'll be in Barcelona

I started out this booking with 2nd dining, changed it to 1st and then have been wait listed for over a month to get back onto 2nd Just got confirmation we're on 2nd so that's it no more changes!

I've still not started any major planning of excursions etc but I have made our fish extender. Am worried about dragging dd on too many boring and heavy excursions so many decisions to make, how's everybody doing with their planning?

Yeah me too...I still go back and forth about ABD and planning on my own. I am so confused. I want my dd7 (will be 8) to enjoy but not be bored. Not sure if ABD will be better and worth the expense or if I should plan on my own. I have been to Europe and did it on my own, and loved the planning but it was for 2 adults and we didn't mind the travel.

HELP!!!

I love planning but still so confused.

 

[valbob89]

Yeah me too...I still go back and forth about ABD and planning on my own. I am so confused. I want my dd7 (will be 8) to enjoy but not be bored. Not sure if ABD will be better and worth the expense or if I should plan on my own. I have been to Europe and did it on my own, and loved the planning but it was for 2 adults and we didn't mind the travel.

HELP!!!

I love planning but still so confused.

We were having the same confusion. Finally, after reading the postings from people who did ABD in the past, we decided to go for it. It will just be the two of us, DH and myself.

 

[tinkertaylor05]

Yeah me too...I still go back and forth about ABD and planning on my own. I am so confused. I want my dd7 (will be 8) to enjoy but not be bored. Not sure if ABD will be better and worth the expense or if I should plan on my own. I have been to Europe and did it on my own, and loved the planning but it was for 2 adults and we didn't mind the travel.

HELP!!!

I love planning but still so confused.

It's tough, we live in the uk so mostly holiday on Europe, I also don't drive so my dd is used to a lot of walking and city breaks however I want this to be a good mix of interesting, relaxing and fun ...... Now I just have to figure out how to achieve it

I've been googling trip reports, its been helpful to narrow down our options and remind me its just not worth it to push it!

My dd is the same age as yours, she's 8 in 5 weeks and right now is keen to learn about the kids clubs more than talk about trips lol

 

[newmommie77]

It's tough, we live in the uk so mostly holiday on Europe, I also don't drive so my dd is used to a lot of walking and city breaks however I want this to be a good mix of interesting, relaxing and fun ...... Now I just have to figure out how to achieve it

I've been googling trip reports, its been helpful to narrow down our options and remind me its just not worth it to push it!

My dd is the same age as yours, she's 8 in 5 weeks and right now is keen to learn about the kids clubs more than talk about trips lol

Kiera turns 8 in about 5 weeks too!

 

[Disney mam]

I am trying to find the balance to enjoy myself without having to give my kids the idea that cruise = lots of walking and history. My boys 7 & 9 and are good walkers, I do have some walking issues of my own though.

So far I have this in mind.

Rome on our own, and let the boys enjoy the Colosseum (they said they'd like to go inside). I don't want to do the vatican as that would be super crazy with the boys, and just enjoy the day by visiting the fountain, maybe the Spanish steps, the Hill and the Square. Rome wasn't built in a day (as they say) and DH and I can always come back in the future.

Boys said they would like to visit Pisa, which I am fine with. Not rushing around just enjoying the day on our own and see what we come across whilst we're there.

Was thinking about Pompeii and got torn. Final decision is to visit Herculaneum as it will be less crowded, is closer to the ship and not as big to get around. I have heard it is suppose to be very nice. Some prefer this to Pompeii but that is not everyone's opinion.

Villefranche is going to be a chilled day also around the beach and locally.

I have trouble walking as I have had 8 operations on my knee and have a weakness, suffer constant pain. I may just take my crutches as a back-up, but so long as I don't over do it and take my medication then hopefully I will get by just fine.

 

[tinkertaylor05]

Kiera turns 8 in about 5 weeks too!

Erica's birthday is 16th Feb when's Kiera's?

I am trying to find the balance to enjoy myself without having to give my kids the idea that cruise = lots of walking and history. My boys 7 & 9 and are good walkers, I do have some walking issues of my own though.

So far I have this in mind.

Rome on our own, and let the boys enjoy the Colosseum (they said they'd like to go inside). I don't want to do the vatican as that would be super crazy with the boys, and just enjoy the day by visiting the fountain, maybe the Spanish steps, the Hill and the Square. Rome wasn't built in a day (as they say) and DH and I can always come back in the future.

Boys said they would like to visit Pisa, which I am fine with. Not rushing around just enjoying the day on our own and see what we come across whilst we're there.

Was thinking about Pompeii and got torn. Final decision is to visit Herculaneum as it will be less crowded, is closer to the ship and not as big to get around. I have heard it is suppose to be very nice. Some prefer this to Pompeii but that is not everyone's opinion.

Villefranche is going to be a chilled day also around the beach and locally.

I have trouble walking as I have had 8 operations on my knee and have a weakness, suffer constant pain. I may just take my crutches as a back-up, but so long as I don't over do it and take my medication then hopefully I will get by just fine.

Ouch! Your plans seem pretty similar to ours, I totally agree with your sentiment I just want a fantastic Disnified family holiday and the beautiful ports are a bonus.

Villefranche we're going to take or leave it as we feel at the time, if we want to go to Monaco we will do it on the train from what I can see it's under 12 euros return for the 3 of us and we'd just go for a wander around.

La Spezia we will probably go to Pisa see the tower eat some ice cream and that's about it! I know there are alot of other possibly better options but it's unlikely we'll ever return to Pisa and we can tick it off the list Down side is the long train ride but hopefully we can make the most of it.

Civitavecchia is the only port we're going to do an excursion and I'll likely arrange a private driver. We want to see the colosseum, other than that we haven't narrowed it down so much to choose from

Naples we'll also head to the herculaneum and that's our rough plan

 

[kikids]

My daughter posted on here,under my name, her names freya, shes 12, also shy and quite young for her age. Shes desperate to chat to kids before the cruise so she'll have "friends" on there

Goofs - Eliza sent a private message to Freya. Look in the yellow box at the top right of the page if you are new to PM's. I think she gave her email address too for future.

 

[newmommie77]

Erica's birthday is 16th Feb when's Kiera's?

Too funny. Feb 17.

 

[goofs]

Welcome heathervincent. I see there are a few people now with girls around the same age as my DD. She is 10 now but will turn 11 before the cruise. She is pretty shy at first but she loves to email, so heathervincent, krispykreme, and anyone else who might have a DD of similar age, let's get them in contact so they can hang out on 'at sea' days and maybe give the grown ups a few minutes where we don't have to worry about entertaining them! Send me a PM.

Tinkertaylor, we've got our excursions planned out and I agree, it's a bit challenging to figure out what they'll enjoy, how long they'll have energy, and combine that with everything I want to see. I did check out Barcelona and Rome DVD's from our library to show the family and get them excited. I was glad I watched them first! The BCN one was absolutely great and I think we'll watch it together this weekend but the Rome one almost put me to sleep - it was all soft music and video of ruin, after ruin, after ruin, with soft spoken narration. (yawn). The kids will refuse to leave the ship if I show that to them. So I'm going back to the library to choose a different version.

We've recieved your email. Freya will reply in the morning, she will be very excited when she sees it. Thank you

 

[purplern]

Hmmmmm tough call, I guess you just have to do what works for your family, I think I'd probably be tempted o do the same in that situation and everyone do what they want

I'm going to sit down some point this week and try to firm up some of our plans, I know for sure I will do some kind of excursion in Rome. I'd like to try at the very least one port on our own, I really want to get a good balance of activities and not push it. I think I'd also like to do one of the quieter towns/villages in favour of a larger attraction one day oooooh I'm going to need to give this a lot of thought, planning heaven

My kids want to go to the Colosseum! They want to have a sword fight LOL!!! My son also wants to taste wine! We have one excursion we want to do-we get 5 glasses of wine to try. I said I'll be drunk!

 

[purplern]

Just wanted to say hi to everyone and introduce ourselves now that we finally booked our flight.

It will be myself Kim and my husband Andrew. We are celebrating our 10 year date-aversary and his 30th b-day! We're both really excited for this cruise and meeting everyone.

Welcome!! Lookks like a lot of people are celebrating. My birthday is during the cruise too!!!