Is anyone cruising with me on the August 27th 2011 Meditteranean Cruise? Hellooooo?

[BWV Dreamin]

I just confirmed with Capital One that there are no foreign transaction fees when using their card in Europe.

 

[TJFrack]

I just confirmed with Capital One that there are no foreign transaction fees when using their card in Europe.

You are lucky!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

That is a good idea, did you find a church?

Last summer when we did the cruise from Dover to Barcelona we were able to do half days in the port then we would come and spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool, and it ended up being a relaxing cruise. I think the 7 day Med cruise, once we get to Italy will be hard to have relaxing days, so take advantage of it while you can.

I did find a church. It's supposed to be just up the hill a couple of blocks from the port. Didn't get a name but figure I will ask some locals there. Now I need to learn how to say "Closest Catholic Church" in French!

 

[RoniBoBoni]

Sorry i've been missing in action, seems like it's been a slow weekend for posts. It's a long weekend here in the US, so we went out of town for a couple days but we are back.

OhioDisneyDave - i've uploaded your pic on the website, it's cute and your DW does look surprised LOL Sorry it took me a few days, but it is up now

BWV Dreamin - i've sent you a pm about the church. That is pretty awesome that Capital One doesn't charge! I need to call my credit card company and see.

 

[OhioDisneyDavid]

Sorry i've been missing in action, seems like it's been a slow weekend for posts. It's a long weekend here in the US, so we went out of town for a couple days but we are back.

OhioDisneyDave - i've uploaded your pic on the website, it's cute and your DW does look surprised LOL Sorry it took me a few days, but it is up now

BWV Dreamin - i've sent you a pm about the church. That is pretty awesome that Capital One doesn't charge! I need to call my credit card company and see.

Thanks for picture update! The unexpected wave was COLD!

 

[OhioDisneyDavid]

I just confirmed with Capital One that there are no foreign transaction fees when using their card in Europe.

I also did some Credit Card Recon over the weekend and the Captal One Venture looks like it is the best deal. No International Surcharge, double miles per dollar and no annual fee for 1st year. It also has a photo card to help verify that the card belongs to you. Valuable if it gets stolen.

I was planning to use my Disney Chase for cruise ports and excusions but there is a 3% international fee. Not expecting that. I hate to spend money for nothing.

Guess what, we are now Capital One's newest customers! Cards are in the mail.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Just popping in to say hi to everyone. The thread has slowed down a bit--we must all be busy

We are most likely booking an Eastern Med cruise for the kids' Easter break from school tomorrow. Sooooo, I will be a little preoccupied with trying to figure out those totally new to us ports and may not be around here as much for a bit. No worries though--I will keep reading everything and posting once in a while and I WILL be on this cruise (with lanyards). I wouldn't start collecting lanyard info until after finally payment it due anyway--too many people sign up and the drop out (I have learned this lesson the hard way).

I hope you are all having fun.

BWV Dreamin'--my in laws may be interested in going to mass too. Maybe you will see some familiar faces there.

Jrs Mommy--did you find out if you are moving to Stuttgart or not?

 

[RoniBoBoni]

I also did some Credit Card Recon over the weekend and the Captal One Venture looks like it is the best deal. No International Surcharge, double miles per dollar and no annual fee for 1st year. It also has a photo card to help verify that the card belongs to you. Valuable if it gets stolen.

I was planning to use my Disney Chase for cruise ports and excusions but there is a 3% international fee. Not expecting that. I hate to spend money for nothing.

Guess what, we are now Capital One's newest customers! Cards are in the mail.

Oh wow! Thanks for info!! I think we might have to sign up too

 

[austraveler]

Do any of you veteran cruisers have an opinion on the quality of the Disney run excursions. I know they are expensive but does the convenience of say "Pompeii and Sorrento" with Disney, plus the quality, override the fact that it is about 100 euro more than doing it on your own?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Hi Hadley, about the lanyards How much is a lanyard going to cost? Is there a minimum required?

Just popping in to say hi to everyone. The thread has slowed down a bit--we must all be busy

We are most likely booking an Eastern Med cruise for the kids' Easter break from school tomorrow. Sooooo, I will be a little preoccupied with trying to figure out those totally new to us ports and may not be around here as much for a bit. No worries though--I will keep reading everything and posting once in a while and I WILL be on this cruise (with lanyards). I wouldn't start collecting lanyard info until after finally payment it due anyway--too many people sign up and the drop out (I have learned this lesson the hard way).

I hope you are all having fun.

BWV Dreamin'--my in laws may be interested in going to mass too. Maybe you will see some familiar faces there.

Jrs Mommy--did you find out if you are moving to Stuttgart or not?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Do any of you veteran cruisers have an opinion on the quality of the Disney run excursions. I know they are expensive but does the convenience of say "Pompeii and Sorrento" with Disney, plus the quality, override the fact that it is about 100 euro more than doing it on your own?

This is only our second cruise. We are not purchasing any of the DCL excursions for this cruise. Maybe Hadley could shed some light in this area. Let us know!

 

[mkmommy]

Last summer we did 2 DCL excursions, and then 3 ports on our own. We enjoyed them all. From a knowledge stand point we certainly learned more on the DCL excursions, the tour guide gets on the bus as soon as you get off the ships and starts talking, and the convince factor is certainly worth the extra cost.

I like a mixture, but I would not do all ports as DCL excursions.

 

[NHdisneylover]

This is only our second cruise. We are not purchasing any of the DCL excursions for this cruise. Maybe Hadley could shed some light in this area. Let us know!

am I the expert now?

Honestly, in 14 cruises we have only ever taken tow ship sponsored excursions. In both cases we wanted to go somewhere very far from the ship and where I did not feel there would be back up transportation options to get us back to port if plan A failed--so I wanted that safety net. Both were perfectly nice excursions and something I would do again (one to the Kohunlich ruins along the Mexican/Beliz border--about 90 minutes inland in the middle of nowhere, and one involved taking a boat to another island and then kayaking and was limited to 25 participants).

We have friends who absolutely LOVE the DCL excurions. They book them in every port. They love not having to think about where to go or how to get there and they have the money to spend to do it that way.

We usually end up going the same places they do for about 1/5 the cost. We are cheap. We also don't like being stuck with a big group, I enjoy studying up on the history of the area before hand so most of the time what the guides tell you I have already learned and told the kids (this was the case in Kohunlich anyway). We also simply enjoy getting a more local feel by taking public trains and buses, etc. Oh, and we also like the flexibility to change our plans at the last minute depending on weather. We often have a plan for if the weather is comfortable outdoors and a plan B in case of rain or extreme heat and choose daily according to the weather. You just can't do that with prebooked shore excursions.

It really just depends on what you are wanting out of the trip.

Personally, I found these ports to be the easiest to get places on your own of ANY I have seen--so if you were ambivalent I would do it myself--but it really does depend on what you are looking for in a shore day and there is no right or wrong answer

 

[NHdisneylover]

Hi Hadley, about the lanyards How much is a lanyard going to cost? Is there a minimum required?

The price per piece varies depending on how many we need to order. As we get closer to the sail date I will have a better idea. Generally, by the time you get the name tag pouches and break away safety pieces and pay shipping it works out to about $2 per lanyard.

In the past, we have always just had people who are willing to help volunteer to o so and then split the cost among us as the "team" or everyone (trying to keep the cost to no more than $25-$30 per tam member). I guess we could try to have everyone buy their own--but boy that is a lot to keep track o and a lot of money changing hands. I would think that if you are willing to print the nametags that right there should be your contribution to the team and you would notneed to pay any more at all. You are donating printer ink and paper

 

[TJFrack]

Do any of you veteran cruisers have an opinion on the quality of the Disney run excursions. I know they are expensive but does the convenience of say "Pompeii and Sorrento" with Disney, plus the quality, override the fact that it is about 100 euro more than doing it on your own?

I have done several DCL tours and several on our own. Convenience is the factor for paying for DCL tours. On our Panama Canal Cruise people organized tours for the ports and I think they were way better than the DCL tours based on the fact our friends did DCL and the were jealous of what we got to see and do.

For this cruise we are planning to book private tours for Italy. We can have up to 7 or 8 people depending on the port. If you split the costs between 4 people it is already cheaper than what DCL is charging and you get to see more. If you want info send me your e-mail address and I can forward you the pricing for each of the 3 tours in Italy. Disboards doesn't like the size of the file and length if I try to insert it.

I am planning to book the Monte Carlo, Eze and Nice tour through DCL, but for Italy I am hoping to get to split the costs with some other people.

 

[austraveler]

For this cruise we are planning to book private tours for Italy. We can have up to 7 or 8 people depending on the port. If you split the costs between 4 people it is already cheaper than what DCL is charging and you get to see more. If you want info send me your e-mail address and I can forward you the pricing for each of the 3 tours in Italy. Disboards doesn't like the size of the file and length if I try to insert it.

I am planning to book the Monte Carlo, Eze and Nice tour through DCL, but for Italy I am hoping to get to split the costs with some other people.

I saw that you posted about splitting private tours, but we are taking the 3 boys on our excursions and won't impose our children on a nice group of adults.

We are reasonably adventurous and not adverse to venturing out on our own but I was thinking that perhaps the efficiency of using the DCL transport and organisation would save us time. I wonder though if the crowds on the DCL tours result in us wasting time not saving it.

 

[TJFrack]

I saw that you posted about splitting private tours, but we are taking the 3 boys on our excursions and won't impose our children on a nice group of adults.

We are reasonably adventurous and not adverse to venturing out on our own but I was thinking that perhaps the efficiency of using the DCL transport and organisation would save us time. I wonder though if the crowds on the DCL tours result in us wasting time not saving it.

I sent you a Private Message.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I saw that you posted about splitting private tours, but we are taking the 3 boys on our excursions and won't impose our children on a nice group of adults.

We are reasonably adventurous and not adverse to venturing out on our own but I was thinking that perhaps the efficiency of using the DCL transport and organisation would save us time. I wonder though if the crowds on the DCL tours result in us wasting time not saving it.

As far as wasting time goes, the only two places I recall running into big groups of DCL tour buses last spring were Carthage (that cruise stopped in Tunisia) and Pompeii. In both cases, doing it on our own (and even walking to the train station in Naples to get to Pompeii) had us arriving bout a half hour before the FIRST DCL tours arrived. Admittidly, we tried to be up and of pretty close to as early as you could so as to beat the heat. None the less, we did see tours on both of those days starting to meet up in the ship as we were heading off and somehow we still moved faster I can't say how the rest o the day went or them because we tried to steer clear of those crowds.

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Well our cruise is showing again ............... only one thing left ............ a one bedroom suite

 

[sissy_ib]

Well I have two weeks off work and the weather here is a mess! So I'm starting to make FE gifts