DCL Mediterranean Magic Add-on

[Turtle Gal]

Yes, they are separate products so it's DCL and ABD add on added together.
Congrats on your graduation and anniversary celebrations (a little early!)

Thank you! Yep, we're definitely priced out. At least I can stop my research on this.

 

[bonnielynn]

Couple of questions - pompeii isn't on the lists of visited places? What if you don't swim?

 

[sayhello]

Couple of questions - pompeii isn't on the lists of visited places? What if you don't swim?

No they don't go to Pompeii. What do you mean by "what if you don't swim"?

Sayhello

 

[virtuoso1989]

I believe they meant the visit to Capri. The people who didnt jump into the Mediterranean stayed on the boat and watched (and ate). Honestly though this was only a small part of the day and you would not feel like you wasted your time. The views during the boat trip were so beautiful, even sightseeing would be worth it.

 

[sayhello]

I believe they meant the visit to Capri. The people who didnt jump into the Mediterranean stayed on the boat and watched (and ate). Honestly though this was only a small part of the day and you would not feel like you wasted your time. The views during the boat trip were so beautiful, even sightseeing would be worth it.

Ah! That makes sense. And I totally agree with you. Folks who didn't swim did not seem to be complaining because the boat trip itself was beautiful!

Sayhello

 

[cma0512]

Hi there. I am relatively new to this also, but just booked the 5/30 Med cruise for 2020. We've done one Disney Cruise, one ABD (and are about to take our second ABD to AZ/UT in a few weeks). I'm pretty sure we will book the ABD cruise add on. Wondering what time in general you get back to the ship? Do we have to book the late dinner seating? Also, when there are afternoons on your own, if you are done can you return to the ship early or do you need to wait for the group? Thanks in advance!

 

[mrebuck]

We did the ABD add on to our Med Cruise in 2014. They recommended the late dinner seating, but we opted for main dining instead. We made it to every dinner - I recall only a couple that we didn't have time to shower and change before heading to dinner. We just booked the add on four our 2020 Northern Europe cruise and chose main dining again. Eating at a normal time most nights is worth missing a dinner or two if needed.

I have to echo everything everyone said about the ABD add on. It was well worth every penny. We saw so much more on than we ever would have had we tried to arrange the excursions on our own. And all of the planning is done for you. They think of everything - including providing the towels for our water excursions (we had some beach time in Mykonos and did some cliff jumping in Malta on our trip), and snacks and water whenever needed. We'd arrive to lunch with food on the table and wine ready to be drunk. As the main planner for all of our family vacations, the value ABD added was priceless. I only wish it would have been an option for our 2018 Alaska cruise - I would have booked it in a heartbeat.

 

[virtuoso1989]

The ports are rather far from the activities. If i remember correctly about an average of an hour’s drive. The only port that we had on our own time was Florence, which there was so much to see. I bet you can go on your own though because Dusty, one of the guides said people can definitely venture away from the main activities. His example was if you wanted to see the volcano in Naples, you can do that on your own.

 

[sayhello]

Hi there. I am relatively new to this also, but just booked the 5/30 Med cruise for 2020. We've done one Disney Cruise, one ABD (and are about to take our second ABD to AZ/UT in a few weeks). I'm pretty sure we will book the ABD cruise add on. Wondering what time in general you get back to the ship? Do we have to book the late dinner seating? Also, when there are afternoons on your own, if you are done can you return to the ship early or do you need to wait for the group? Thanks in advance!

The ports are rather far from the activities. If i remember correctly about an average of an hour’s drive. The only port that we had on our own time was Florence, which there was so much to see. I bet you can go on your own though because Dusty, one of the guides said people can definitely venture away from the main activities. His example was if you wanted to see the volcano in Naples, you can do that on your own.

If you venture away from the ABD, you have to arrange that yourself, and do it at your own expense, and there's no guarantee that you can re-join the ABD later. I wanted to go to Pompeii during the morning in Naples, and re-join for the trip to Capri, and was told it couldn't be done by the Adventure Guides due to the logistics of the day. So if you want to skip an entire day of the ABD, you can do that, but just a part is not necessarily possible. Also, if you want to go back to the ship before the end of the day, you'd have to arrange for and pay for your own transportation. And of course, in both cases, work this out with your Adventure Guides ahead of time.

Sayhello

 

[cma0512]

We did the ABD add on to our Med Cruise in 2014. They recommended the late dinner seating, but we opted for main dining instead. We made it to every dinner - I recall only a couple that we didn't have time to shower and change before heading to dinner. We just booked the add on four our 2020 Northern Europe cruise and chose main dining again. Eating at a normal time most nights is worth missing a dinner or two if needed.

I have to echo everything everyone said about the ABD add on. It was well worth every penny. We saw so much more on than we ever would have had we tried to arrange the excursions on our own. And all of the planning is done for you. They think of everything - including providing the towels for our water excursions (we had some beach time in Mykonos and did some cliff jumping in Malta on our trip), and snacks and water whenever needed. We'd arrive to lunch with food on the table and wine ready to be drunk. As the main planner for all of our family vacations, the value ABD added was priceless. I only wish it would have been an option for our 2018 Alaska cruise - I would have booked it in a heartbeat.

Thanks so much! This helps a lot

 

[cma0512]

The ports are rather far from the activities. If i remember correctly about an average of an hour’s drive. The only port that we had on our own time was Florence, which there was so much to see. I bet you can go on your own though because Dusty, one of the guides said people can definitely venture away from the main activities. His example was if you wanted to see the volcano in Naples, you can do that on your own.

Thank you!

 

[cma0512]

If you venture away from the ABD, you have to arrange that yourself, and do it at your own expense, and there's no guarantee that you can re-join the ABD later. I wanted to go to Pompeii during the morning in Naples, and re-join for the trip to Capri, and was told it couldn't be done by the Adventure Guides due to the logistics of the day. So if you want to skip an entire day of the ABD, you can do that, but just a part is not necessarily possible. Also, if you want to go back to the ship before the end of the day, you'd have to arrange for and pay for your own transportation. And of course, in both cases, work this out with your Adventure Guides ahead of time.

Sayhello

Thank you for the detailed information! We are excited

 

[lucky1]

Hi there. I am relatively new to this also, but just booked the 5/30 Med cruise for 2020. We've done one Disney Cruise, one ABD (and are about to take our second ABD to AZ/UT in a few weeks). I'm pretty sure we will book the ABD cruise add on. Wondering what time in general you get back to the ship? Do we have to book the late dinner seating? Also, when there are afternoons on your own, if you are done can you return to the ship early or do you need to wait for the group? Thanks in advance!

I believe they automagically put you on late dinning and you can request early dinning, but I would recommend you stick with the dinning they put you on. 1) Your whole ABD family eats together in the same area, not necessarily the same table. You do bound with your ABD family after the first day, so it is nice to be in the same area together. 2) Your Adventure guides work it out so you have what is considered the best rotation (at least they did in our case), not sure they can do that if you change your dining time. 3) Our Adventure guides did not eat with us, but they did stop by on some nights with specific information or perks for the Group.

 

[sayhello]

I believe they automagically put you on late dinning and you can request early dinning, but I would recommend you stick with the dinning they put you on. 1) Your whole ABD family eats together in the same area, not necessarily the same table. You do bound with your ABD family after the first day, so it is nice to be in the same area together. 2) Your Adventure guides work it out so you have what is considered the best rotation (at least they did in our case), not sure they can do that if you change your dining time. 3) Our Adventure guides did not eat with us, but they did stop by on some nights with specific information or perks for the Group.

That's true. But late dining is REALLY late on these cruises, and I really wish I'd gone for the main dining.

Sayhello

 

[mrebuck]

I believe they automagically put you on late dinning and you can request early dinning, but I would recommend you stick with the dinning they put you on. 1) Your whole ABD family eats together in the same area, not necessarily the same table. You do bound with your ABD family after the first day, so it is nice to be in the same area together. 2) Your Adventure guides work it out so you have what is considered the best rotation (at least they did in our case), not sure they can do that if you change your dining time. 3) Our Adventure guides did not eat with us, but they did stop by on some nights with specific information or perks for the Group.

They put us on the same dining rotation as the people in our group who had the later dining. They did tell us in advance that there was one night we might not make it back for dinner. It has been a couple of years, but my recollection is that we made it anyway. We were a couple minutes late, but we made it. For us, it worked out great. I'd suggest looking at the all aboard times for each night of your cruise. From that, you should be able to judge how much of an problem it might be.

 

[cma0512]

They put us on the same dining rotation as the people in our group who had the later dining. They did tell us in advance that there was one night we might not make it back for dinner. It has been a couple of years, but my recollection is that we made it anyway. We were a couple minutes late, but we made it. For us, it worked out great. I'd suggest looking at the all aboard times for each night of your cruise. From that, you should be able to judge how much of an problem it might be.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll definitely look into it and check the actual times.

 

[lucky1]

That's true. But late dining is REALLY late on these cruises, and I really wish I'd gone for the main dining.

Sayhello

I know... it seemed like we got out of Dinner so late, but I would not want to miss the time with the ABD family. We did a lot of table hopping and talking between the tables and sharing tales of the day

They put us on the same dining rotation as the people in our group who had the later dining. They did tell us in advance that there was one night we might not make it back for dinner. It has been a couple of years, but my recollection is that we made it anyway. We were a couple minutes late, but we made it. For us, it worked out great. I'd suggest looking at the all aboard times for each night of your cruise. From that, you should be able to judge how much of an problem it might be.

Same for us, that they let us know ahead of time of Rome being the longest day and possible might be running back for dinner, but since that night was when we were going to be at Rapunzel's for her Birthday celebration, they thought we might want to not miss that. I know the next day (Florence), we skipped dinner and when to Cabanas when we got back

 

[bonnielynn]

The only location that you needed to have your Knees and shoulders covered. was at the Vatican and if you plan to go into any other churches in Italy, like in Florence. For Naples, Capri, yes, bring or wear swimsuits and 2 pieces are okay for women. Their is an opportunity to change into your suit at Lunch before going to Capri and I would suggest you do that or wear it because the ferry ride over is very crowded and may not have an opportunity for the bathroom.

If you don't swim then what would you do? - Never mind.. this has already been answered.

 

[carpenta]

The ferry to Capri is the next pier from the pier we docked at on the Magic. We walked off took a left, bought a ticket in the small booth and had an enjoyable on Capri. Small bus service takes you to the top areas.