disney magic europe 2016

[wayneg]

i would rather have the itinerary you had on your last one (didn't it go to the southern caribbean or something like that)..

although ending in new york isn't bad....are you going to travel around after the cruise? a road trip in the northeast?

Weather wise then the last itinerary was good but the ports were not great, this time weather will start off good but further north will be cooler but better ports. Although we don't tend to get off the ship for long in any port. We would rather be on the ship.

We have 4 nights in New York then fly down for a week in Orlando, unfortunately Matt will have to fly back to UK same day we disembark, he has to be back at Uni for some training.

 

[disneyholic family]

Weather wise then the last itinerary was good but the ports were not great, this time weather will start off good but further north will be cooler but better ports. Although we don't tend to get off the ship for long in any port. We would rather be on the ship.

We have 4 nights in New York then fly down for a week in Orlando, unfortunately Matt will have to fly back to UK same day we disembark, he has to be back at Uni for some training.

i also like being on the ship...usually only get off in port for a few hours at most..
it will be easy for Matt to fly home out of new york!!
what are you planning in new york?
the usual sightseeing? broadway?
new york's a great walking town, assuming you get good weather..
i also like the hop on hop off...very touristy, but it does give you a nice overall view of the city...
do you know where yo'll be staying there?

 

[wayneg]

i also like being on the ship...usually only get off in port for a few hours at most..
it will be easy for Matt to fly home out of new york!!
what are you planning in new york?
the usual sightseeing? broadway?
new york's a great walking town, assuming you get good weather..
i also like the hop on hop off...very touristy, but it does give you a nice overall view of the city...
do you know where yo'll be staying there?

Had a bit of a panic with the flight for Matt, if he flies back later in week Thomas Cook fly direct for under £200 one way but he needs to fly Wednesday when TC don't fly, cheapest I could get was AA for £907. Thankfully I remembered he had some AA airmiles to use so it cost £4 + 30,000 miles.
We are using Delta miles to Florida then Virgin miles from MCO to MAN, had loads of miles to use so flying Upper class
Not planned anything for NY yet, watching hotels prices every day. Did Hop on hop off last time we visited so probably not again.
Maybe Statue of Liberty (it was closed due to 9/11 last trip) possibly back to Ground Zero see how that has changed. 3 months to plan yet.

 

[disneyholic family]

Had a bit of a panic with the flight for Matt, if he flies back later in week Thomas Cook fly direct for under £200 one way but he needs to fly Wednesday when TC don't fly, cheapest I could get was AA for £907. Thankfully I remembered he had some AA airmiles to use so it cost £4 + 30,000 miles.
We are using Delta miles to Florida then Virgin miles from MCO to MAN, had loads of miles to use so flying Upper class
Not planned anything for NY yet, watching hotels prices every day. Did Hop on hop off last time we visited so probably not again.
Maybe Statue of Liberty (it was closed due to 9/11 last trip) possibly back to Ground Zero see how that has changed. 3 months to plan yet.

12 days before 9/11, we did the statue of liberty/ellis island tour....
we did it first thing in the morning and were planning on going to the trade center right after....
to go to the top and also to visit aaron's old office (he worked in the world trade center when we lived in manhattan back in 79-82)..

but chani and i got really seasick on the statue of liberty ferry, so we gave up on taking the kids to the trade center..
i said to them, 'we'll see it when we come back next year. it's not going anywhere"....little did i know..exactly 12 days later....

anyway, we did enjoy the statue of liberty/ellis island....when i was on ellis island i tried to see if i could look up my mom and sister...
they were incarcerated in ellis island when they came to the US in 1951....my sister was a baby...not even 2 years old yet...
and my mom was 24.....my dad was already in the US....they all went so that my dad could get his PhD....he'd gone first to set everything up...and my mom followed with my sister....and then she and my sister were incarcerated in ellis island...really it was incarceration...with delousing and everything....we're talking about university educated people sent to the island....completely outrageous.......
and these were people with Visas...they came with visas in hand....crazy crazy crazy.....it took a while for my dad to be able to get my mom and sister out....and she was only 24 with a young baby....after crossing the med and the atlantic on not exactly cruise ship conditions...
anyway...i tried to see if i could find their names...years later, we did get all the information from the state department...just to have it..even a photo image of the book where their names are listed..

by the way, the year after 9/11, we went back to new york....and went to ground zero...the surrounding area still looked like it had just been hit...it was shocking really....it took them a long time to come back from that..

 

[disneyholic family]

when i go to new york with my mom (her eye dr is in new york), we always stay at the hampton inn times square north - it includes breakfast and is very convenient to broadway shows ..so that after the show, we can easily walk back to the hotel..
i book using the discount offer from trip advisor..

 

[wayneg]

when i go to new york with my mom (her eye dr is in new york), we always stay at the hampton inn times square north - it includes breakfast and is very convenient to broadway shows ..so that after the show, we can easily walk back to the hotel..
i book using the discount offer from trip advisor..

We also visited NY the year after 9/11, that's why we want to go back and see the changes.
Looked at the Hampton with TripAdvisor disc, $1,492.67 for 4 nights = £259/nt. I hope to get something under £200/nt. Offers keep coming and going.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

We didn't have any problems with stability on the Magic, so hopefully you will be fine! When we were on Dream at Christmas it was really rocky docking at CC. The weather was fine, so maybe it was a trainee working the Bridge that day!

We have booked Easy Pisa, and Imperial and Renaissance Rome. The other days I think we will either stay on the ship, or just have a little wander on our own. Ville Franche is a tender port, so DD might like to get off just for the boat ride!

Claire

 

[saintrob]

The Magic was in my home town of Liverpool last week! She's on her round Britain cruise at the moment and is returning on 12th June. We were on the Magic about 8 years ago and she still looks as good. We've sailed on the Wonder and Dream but I do have a soft spot for the Magic and would love to do the Med cruise.

 

[Ware Bears]

wow, twice....i'm jealous...i really hope i get to go again....i think it would be a wonderful place to summer....you know, have a summer cottage that you go back to every year.....i totally fell in love with alaska...especially seward....a little piece of heaven for me!!

Oh yes, that would be fantastic, if only there wasn't the small issue of flights to deal with!

for your med cruise, have you picked out excursions? or are you planning to do it on your own?

Bit of both - we're on a b2b so got the ports duplicated apart from France when one week it's Cannes, the other Villefranche. We've booked Vesuvius/Pompeii, Tarquinia, Amalfi coast boat trip and Pisa (climb the tower) with DCL. Cannes, Villefranche and Civitavecchia we're just going to wander round and Florence we're taking the DCL Florence on your own tour then doing it on our own once there. Was a bit nervous about doing the train there DIY as I believe it's a shuttle out of the port then taxi or bus ride to station then train to Florence. Not bothered about the multiple journey on the way there but a bit concerned for the return journey so would rather pay a bit extra for the bus and peace of mind. Have booked tickets to see Michaelangelo's David and am going to try and plan an Inferno tour round our David timeslot - try being the operative word!

 

[wayneg]

The Magic was in my home town of Liverpool last week! She's on her round Britain cruise at the moment and is returning on 12th June. We were on the Magic about 8 years ago and she still looks as good. We've sailed on the Wonder and Dream but I do have a soft spot for the Magic and would love to do the Med cruise.

I think we are coming over for the day. Might even stay til the fireworks as she departs at 10:15pm.
Any idea where we will find a reasonable priced parking space near to the cruise terminal? Will probably arrive late morning.

 

[saintrob]

I think we are coming over for the day. Might even stay til the fireworks as she departs at 10:15pm.
Any idea where we will find a reasonable priced parking space near to the cruise terminal? Will probably arrive late morning.

There are plenty of parking places down by the terminal. There is a huge area called the Albert Dock which has shops etc and is in walking distance where there are lots of parking spaces. There are also lots of smaller car parks in the surrounding area which are clearly signposted off the main road as you come into the city -you can't miss them.

 

[disneyholic family]

We also visited NY the year after 9/11, that's why we want to go back and see the changes.
Looked at the Hampton with TripAdvisor disc, $1,492.67 for 4 nights = £259/nt. I hope to get something under £200/nt. Offers keep coming and going.

it does go up an down...my sister is staying at the hampton inn times square north in june for £167/night. But i know it can go up...last time i was there with my mom we had to pay a lot more

 

[wayneg]

Thanks, I think we parked at Albert Dock on our last visit but that was over 22 years ago (our Son wasn't born and he is 22 next month)
Just looked on their site and its £12.50 for 12 hours or if we arrive a little earlier and stay til after the departure its £15 upto 24 hours.

 

[wayneg]

it does go up an down...my sister is staying at the hampton inn times square north in june for £167/night. But i know it can go up...last time i was there with my mom we had to pay a lot more

I have been watching prices every day for about a month now, keep dropping a little then go up. Last couple of days they are on the up, will wait for a deal, no rush.

 

[disneyholic family]

I have been watching prices every day for about a month now, keep dropping a little then go up. Last couple of days they are on the up, will wait for a deal, no rush.

when chani went to new york (on the way to florida) a few years back with a friend (before she married, so it must have been more than 5 years ago)..
anyway, i booked something for her just so she had something.
But when they were on the way to the airport, i checked out expedia (for the thousandth time) and all of a sudden a good hotel in times square dropped like crazy on expedia. On the hotel's website the room was still $350/night, but on Expedia it was only $125. I grabbed it on the spot. Fortunately, i could still cancel the other one (it was still the day before since travel takes so long - so i could cancel the other reservation).

anyway, it was a great bargain - for new york city - in a pretty decent hotel.

 

[disneyholic family]

We didn't have any problems with stability on the Magic, so hopefully you will be fine! When we were on Dream at Christmas it was really rocky docking at CC. The weather was fine, so maybe it was a trainee working the Bridge that day!

We have booked Easy Pisa, and Imperial and Renaissance Rome. The other days I think we will either stay on the ship, or just have a little wander on our own. Ville Franche is a tender port, so DD might like to get off just for the boat ride!

Claire

the wonder was also very stable. I had the feeling the dream was just too tall and was producing a sailboat type effect with the wind.
It was actually very scary the distance we seemed to be leaning over.

i didn't realize ville franche is a tender port. if we get off there, it will be to go to monaco. I probably will just to say i've been there
we probably will get off at all the ports. I've been to all of the places (other than ville franche), but my husband hasn't.
So we'll probably just do a general overview tour- nothing fancy or expensive - just so that he can see the basic sites.
In rome, i'd like him to see the vatican and a quick overview of rome.
I spent a month in italy when i was 14 years old (with my class). I liked everything we did, but i totally was in love with Florence. Of course that was 46 years ago, so presumably it's changed since then. Hopefully not for the worse.
So i'd like to also wander around florence a bit.
Not sure what to do in naples. Maybe just a wander around.

 

[disneyholic family]

Oh yes, that would be fantastic, if only there wasn't the small issue of flights to deal with!

Bit of both - we're on a b2b so got the ports duplicated apart from France when one week it's Cannes, the other Villefranche. We've booked Vesuvius/Pompeii, Tarquinia, Amalfi coast boat trip and Pisa (climb the tower) with DCL. Cannes, Villefranche and Civitavecchia we're just going to wander round and Florence we're taking the DCL Florence on your own tour then doing it on our own once there. Was a bit nervous about doing the train there DIY as I believe it's a shuttle out of the port then taxi or bus ride to station then train to Florence. Not bothered about the multiple journey on the way there but a bit concerned for the return journey so would rather pay a bit extra for the bus and peace of mind. Have booked tickets to see Michaelangelo's David and am going to try and plan an Inferno tour round our David timeslot - try being the operative word!

yes, the flights to alaska are intense - and it's worse for us (we fly from israel)...
this past summer, we flew from tel aviv to amsterdam, then amsterdam to seattle, then seattle to anchorage.... the trip with plane changes was over 30 hours - we were totally dead by the time we got to anchorage.

B2B - wow!!! lucky you!!!! yes, i think we'll do the florence on your own tour - that makes sense using DCL to get to florence and then doing a wander around on our own....peace of mind was my view as well...it's worth it to pay extra just to be sure...

not sure what we'll do there - i really like just walking, and sitting for coffee...so maybe we'll do that...i have to research it a bit..

how are you getting into Rome from the port?

 

[disneyholic family]

The Magic was in my home town of Liverpool last week! She's on her round Britain cruise at the moment and is returning on 12th June. We were on the Magic about 8 years ago and she still looks as good. We've sailed on the Wonder and Dream but I do have a soft spot for the Magic and would love to do the Med cruise.

i'm planning a big trip to florida in 2017 with the whole family (kids/grandkids)....now with all this magic planning, i've begun to toy with the idea of adding a cruise to the big trip.....not sure the grand kids would be able to handle a 7 day - so maybe a shorter one....hmmm...

 

[Ware Bears]

how are you getting into Rome from the port?

We're giving Rome a miss - we stayed there for a week a few years ago so have done many of the major touristy things, would rather see Tarquinia and explore Civitavecchia this time. However I think it's very easy to get to Rome on the train if you want to DIY.

 

[disneyholic family]

We're giving Rome a miss - we stayed there for a week a few years ago so have done many of the major touristy things, would rather see Tarquinia and explore Civitavecchia this time. However I think it's very easy to get to Rome on the train if you want to DIY.

makes sense if you already hit the tourist sites in rome.....i might give it a miss if i were alone..