Back to the Med Greece/Turkey in 2013! Complete!

[burma]

DCL has us being there from 0800-1830. It seems like a really quick stop for such a sight-intensive area. But all the ports seem that way this time around.

How nice that you have family there....any chance they'll pick you up at the port and do a personalized tour? How awesome would that be??

Not sure what we are going to do yet but seeing some of them is most def on the list ... my wife speaks greek so we got that country covered at least!

 

[MinnieDiva]

Who loves Mickey mail???

Me! Me! Got home after sitting thru jury selection process (not chosen) to find the welcome mail! Granted, there's nothing in it I didn't already have the info for, but it makes me smile anyway! I did wonder, however, why it took 3 months after booking the cruise to get it out. I was figuring it was going to be for the cruise Sean and I just booked for the end of September. Which means in a few months I'll have more Mickey mail!!! Yea!!!!

 

[MinnieDiva]

Not sure what we are going to do yet but seeing some of them is most def on the list ... my wife speaks greek so we got that country covered at least!

Now that is nice! I'm worried about the signage and stuff being so different...literally "Greek to me". I have visions of getting lost and not being able to get to the ship on time. :0!

 

[mindelmouse]

Who loves Mickey mail???

Me! Me! Got home after sitting thru jury selection process (not chosen) to find the welcome mail! Granted, there's nothing in it I didn't already have the info for, but it makes me smile anyway! I did wonder, however, why it took 3 months after booking the cruise to get it out. I was figuring it was going to be for the cruise Sean and I just booked for the end of September. Which means in a few months I'll have more Mickey mail!!! Yea!!!!

We got 2 of them yesterday...one for me and one for Jim...the names the two rooms are booked in.

 

[MinnieDiva]

We got 2 of them yesterday...one for me and one for Jim...the names the two rooms are booked in.

Oooo, what a treat!!


And on a sad note, my beloved sewing machine, creator of many an outfit, was officially pronounced dead today.

 

[ldo]

fyi for Mykonos. I was there on Princess in Aug. Most ships will dock at the new port. There is a port shuttle. It's either 15 euros or $15 RT. They made it sound like it was dangerous to walk on the road "with all that traffic." It was a small road with hardly any cars and you could see the town you were walking to. You cannot buy a one way ticket from the town back. We walked thru town (small and very pretty) past the windmills and caught a bus to Paradise beach for 2 euros or so. The bus was full of cruise passengers. The beaches are almost identical to Cozumel, IMHO. The beach clubs (just like Cozumel--with food and drink to buy) are free to enter, but you need to pay about 15 euros for 2 chairs and umbrella. No one there but cruisers until 1pm.
For Athens, there is a HO-HO bus right at the port that goes by the Acropolis. We found the area around the Acropolis, Platka and Museum quite safe and easy to navigate. Have fun. Elaine

 

[MinnieDiva]

fyi for Mykonos. I was there on Princess in Aug. Most ships will dock at the new port. There is a port shuttle. It's either 15 euros or $15 RT. They made it sound like it was dangerous to walk on the road "with all that traffic." It was a small road with hardly any cars and you could see the town you were walking to. You cannot buy a one way ticket from the town back. We walked thru town (small and very pretty) past the windmills and caught a bus to Paradise beach for 2 euros or so. The bus was full of cruise passengers. The beaches are almost identical to Cozumel, IMHO. The beach clubs (just like Cozumel--with food and drink to buy) are free to enter, but you need to pay about 15 euros for 2 chairs and umbrella. No one there but cruisers until 1pm.
For Athens, there is a HO-HO bus right at the port that goes by the Acropolis. We found the area around the Acropolis, Platka and Museum quite safe and easy to navigate. Have fun. Elaine

THANK YOU for that information!!! By any chance did you go over to Delos?

 

[MinnieDiva]

Any of you thinking about opting to do Cinque Terre from La Spezia may want to read this:

http://blog.ricksteves.com/

Read from the bottom up, as there are 3 parts to the series on Cinque Terre and the flooding that occurred last fall. If you remember, going here was on Sean's "bucket list". While we did not go as far north as Vernazza and Monterroso, it was certainly heartbreaking to hear how destructive this flood was to this phenomenal area. I am so glad to see that they literally were able to dig themselves out of the muck.

 

[MinnieDiva]

I....booked the pre-cruise apartment!!!!!!!!!!

On a whim, I looked at the apartment website :

http://www.aspasios.com/barcelona

And saw that they have opened up booking thru the end of June, 2013! And, having done all that research a few months ago and making my map, I knew what I wanted and booked it!

So, for any of you OCD planners out there, here's your chance!

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

I....booked the pre-cruise apartment!!!!!!!!!!

On a whim, I looked at the apartment website :

http://www.aspasios.com/barcelona

And saw that they have opened up booking thru the end of June, 2013! And, having done all that research a few months ago and making my map, I knew what I wanted and booked it!

So, for any of you OCD planners out there, here's your chance!

Hi Kim, I'm PMing you about the apartment stuff. About books: we just opened an amazon package about Ancient Greece and now I'm even more excited about going there. You had mentioned earlier on in your PTR about going to Pompeii and buying an informative book that had overleafs describing what the ruins might have looked like way back when (the overleafs fold on top of the ruins). The Greek equivalent that we just opened tonight is fabulous. I had the twins looking over my shoulder asking me about the history of the Grecian places we will see next year on our cruise. First off, I'm grinning like a Cheshire Cat that my eight year olds are asking these historical questions about happenings way back in 5th-century BC Greece. And I must admit that it helps the adults in the family to also put some of those ruins in perspective too. We definitely want to tour Delos too and I am hopeful that DCL will have an excursion there.

And now I'm pricing out how much it will be to get a used copy of the Roman overleaf book too. I know that luggage weight is a precious commodity next summer. But I can absolutely guarantee that those books will be coming with us no matter what -- if some spare dress shoes get pitched, oh well.

Beth

(ps I'm editing this to add the title: Ancient Greece: the famous monuments past and present. text by G.Bejor. University of Pisa. Copyright 1997 by Vision. I bought a used copy on Amazon for around $20.)

 

[OurDogCisco]

I....booked the pre-cruise apartment!!!!!!!!!!

On a whim, I looked at the apartment website :

http://www.aspasios.com/barcelona

And saw that they have opened up booking thru the end of June, 2013! And, having done all that research a few months ago and making my map, I knew what I wanted and booked it!

So, for any of you OCD planners out there, here's your chance!

Okay... now I don't feel so alone. I just recently booked our apartment rental for 3 nights in Rome and I think, the person booking it thought I was LOCO for booking so early. But since we decided to cruise another cruiseline and I discovered the lack of self-service laundry that we definitely needed to have washer and dryer in the apartment. I didn't find too many Rome apartments with both washers and dryers.

Today, I was cleaning out the medicine shelf we have. I keep buckets of stuff in the closet. So, one of the buckets have toilet seat covers and rolls of toilet paper that I've carted over to Europe twice and back and still haven't used them. I've own them since 2007. So, I'm laughing because I bet I'll pack them again for Europe in 2013 and they'll come back home with me. I even found some really old anti-seasick medicine too.

 

[OurDogCisco]

And on a sad note, my beloved sewing machine, creator of many an outfit, was officially pronounced dead today.

Sorry to hear about your machine, I totally understand as it is so hard to learn the ins and outs of a new machine.

 

[MinnieDiva]

Hi Kim, I'm PMing you about the apartment stuff. About books: we just opened an amazon package about Ancient Greece and now I'm even more excited about going there. You had mentioned earlier on in your PTR about going to Pompeii and buying an informative book that had overleafs describing what the ruins might have looked like way back when (the overleafs fold on top of the ruins). The Greek equivalent that we just opened tonight is fabulous. I had the twins looking over my shoulder asking me about the history of the pictures Grecian places we will see next year on our cruise. First off, I'm grinning like a Cheshire Cat that my eight year olds are asking these historical questions about happenings way back in 5th-century BC Greece. And I must admit that it helps the adults in the family to also put some of those ruins in perspective too. We definitely want to tour Delos too and I am hopeful that DCL will have an excursion there.

And now I'm pricing out how much it will be to get a used copy of the Roman overleaf book too. I know that luggage weight is a precious commodity next summer. But I can absolutely guarantee that those books will be coming with us no matter what -- if some spare dress shoes get pitched, oh well.

Beth

(ps I'm editing this to add the title: Ancient Greece: the famous monuments past and present. text by G.Bejor. University of Pisa. Copyright 1997 by Vision. I bought a used copy on Amazon for around $20.)

COOL!!!! Gonna go look for this! I didn't get the opportunity in Rome to do any shopping for books like these, but now I'm definitely going to keep my eyes peeled!!! I just think they give such great perspective! That video series that I mentioned, the Great Tours one, also does something similar in a digital fashion. Nice, but I like being able to go back and forth with the book pages!

 

[MinnieDiva]

Okay... now I don't feel so alone. I just recently booked our apartment rental for 3 nights in Rome and I think, the person booking it thought I was LOCO for booking so early. But since we decided to cruise another cruiseline and I discovered the lack of self-service laundry that we definitely needed to have washer and dryer in the apartment. I didn't find too many Rome apartments with both washers and dryers.

Today, I was cleaning out the medicine shelf we have. I keep buckets of stuff in the closet. So, one of the buckets have toilet seat covers and rolls of toilet paper that I've carted over to Europe twice and back and still haven't used them. I've own them since 2007. So, I'm laughing because I bet I'll pack them again for Europe in 2013 and they'll come back home with me. I even found some really old anti-seasick medicine too.

HAHAHAAHA!!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one. Mindy thinks I'm nuts. And while I didn't bring over toilet paper, I just recently threw out the anti-seasick meds as they were expired as well (and unused ). However, Ashleigh will absolutely be medicated before the next long plane flight......

Sorry to hear about your machine, I totally understand as it is so hard to learn the ins and outs of a new machine.

Sniff, thank you...Haven't done anything about a new one yet. It requires me driving into town, and while I have done that recently, it's been because I've been going to work! I don't believe I mentioned it, but I now don't have just 1 job, I have 3!! Hence, why I haven't been obsessively planning and posting....that work think takes up valuable vacation planning time! And I get to spend all this weekend at a swim meet. On my feet. 8 hours at least per day. I need a massage......

 

[MinnieDiva]

COOL!!!! Gonna go look for this! I didn't get the opportunity in Rome to do any shopping for books like these, but now I'm definitely going to keep my eyes peeled!!!

Ok, just ordered the Greece AND Rome books! (Rome Monuments Past and Present: Guide With Reconstructions) They have tons of the Rome ones on sale used for $0.01 and $3.99 shipping. For $4, I'll risk it!!

And....To get free shipping, I went ahead and ordered the Pacsafe wallet I've been meaning to order for Sean anyway. I'm sure he'll be very excited about this (yeah right....).

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

You got a great deal on those books --- gotta love bargains! How does the pac safe wallet work? Does it attach to a belt loop?

And something else good to read is the NYT travel section this morning. There is an article there about what to do if you have 36 hours to spend in Barcelona! And there is a helpful little map connected with the sites to see. That article is going in my clip file!

Beth

 

[MinnieDiva]

You got a great deal on those books --- gotta love bargains! How does the pac safe wallet work?

Beth

It's a regular wallet, but it has the ability to prevent tech-savvy theirs from stealing info from those stripes on the back of your cc's (I think). Off of chips, too, I believe. They have one that holds passports as well. Not sure if I'm going for that, yet, tho...I'll tell you my impression when it arrives. Typical Amazon, still hasn't shipped. Only the Rome book has shipped, since it was from a third party supplier.

 

[MinnieDiva]

Under the 400 day mark!!!

 

[mindelmouse]

Under the 400 day mark!!!

Ok...I guess that's a nice round number...

 

[MinnieDiva]

I was so excited to get the mail yesterday!! There was Mickey mail (for our Sept cruise), and what I thought was going to be one of the books I'd ordered off Amazon. It wasn't. It was Sean's Pacsafe wallet. He seems to like it; it's bigger and flatter than your average man's wallet, and he thinks that it wouldn't be uncomfortable in his front pants pocket. Now he needs to shift stuff over and give it a try for a while....

We went to REI yesterday and I ended up getting a new outfit...one, of course, that would work next summer!! I knew I needed a new pair of khaki colored capris, so I found a nice pair of this, and after being told I need to branch out in my wardrobe confused3), Sean and Ashleigh found a very nice shirt to go with it! They did not, however, have the pac safe purse I want (like the one I got Ashleigh) in the store, so when I got home, I ordered it finally before it sold out (as has the color I ordered Ash...). Oh, and for any of you who love REI....their anniversary sale starts next weekend!!! New coupon on the way!! There's either a bike rack or a camera bag in our future....

Last night, the Rick Steves episode on PBS was about Cinque Terre. We've seen it several times, but it's so nice to see the scenery. It was followed by Rudy Maxa....the guy who did those videos I watched not too long ago. He was in Amsterdam.....someday.....g

Anyway, happy mother's day to all! I got crepes for breakfast, and will be going out here in a bit for a nice long run. By myself. No dog. In shorts and a tank top!!! We finally have gotten a batch of fabulous weather!! Later, maybe a movie??