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

[sissy_ib]

I know I am probably the only one left in the world who doesn't do facebook. If you can post a pic that would be great. I'm now on a mission to find a cute sun hat for this trip!!

I am a silver member, so hopefully there will still be Palo slots open for that first night. I can't wait to see some 7 night Med Navigators to get an idea of when these shows will be.

I cant wait to see the Navigators as well! I am such a planner! Looks like the first 7 night Med departs July 30th so we wont have much time!
I have never cruised before so I think my wish of Palo for brunch is not going to happen this cruise

 

[sissy_ib]

Sorry maybe I wrote it incorrectly .................... no way did I mean not to do any of the above, just saying that I use it on DH before we go and it helps, along with his very high factor sun lotion and hat etc.......... some people have said it helps with prickly heat if you use before you go as well.

I just worry as I have friends who burn EVERY summer because they think "I have a tan, I can not get a sun burn!" and they pay for their mistake lol.
Even if you are careful you can get burned! I would hate for someone to get burned badly the first day and be in pain the rest of the trip!

 

[jrs_mommy]

I visited Rome twice last year (once in July and once in November) and many people had parasols. They sold them EVERYWHERE! People even used them on the open top buses! The sun and heat is BRUTAL! I will be bringing the one I bought last year for sure! They are great!! Only around 5 Euros too! Some people used their umbrellas. Oh and I also saw alot of people wearing Fedora hats. (men and women)



Hop on hop off bus (notice the parasols on the bus as well as in the distance on the right)

Right before he broke it LOL! Good thing they are cheap!

Mmmmm Gelato! Right near the Trevi fountain!

My baby wearing his Fedora in front of our hotel

 

[mkmommy]

My baby wearing his Fedora in front of our hotel

Great pictures

Last summer in Lisbon my daughter bartered for a fedora with a pick ribbon and she loved the hat so much, but then someone stole it from the deck chair near the mickey pool, she keeps reminding me that I owe her a hat, so I will have to look for them in Rome.

What the girls did to keep cool was use the spray bottles filled with water, and that really helped keep them cool especially when we were on the top of a hopon/hopoff bus, and they also got fans.

It was hot when we were there but it did not bother us as much as the heat and humidity in Orlando does, does it get humid in Rome?

 

[dwcsk8]

In Villafranche we are planning to go to the Villa Ephrussi (sp) by taxi after lunch. We will be happy to share a taxi with anyone heading there.

Please note that a guide or tour there will only be in French. I saw that on their website.

There is another Villa in the neighborhood of the Villa Ephrissi that also looks interesting. A combination ticket is offered for both villas.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Those fedora hats are cute!!! Where can I buy them? Barcelona, Villefranche, or only Italy? How much do they usually cost? And the parasol will be a must ( what a great souvenir)!

 

[jrs_mommy]

Those fedora hats are cute!!! Where can I buy them? Barcelona, Villefranche, or only Italy? How much do they usually cost? And the parasol will be a must ( what a great souvenir)!

I have only been to Rome out of all of our ports. I remember seeing Fedoras in gift shops. I brought the one my son is wearing from home. I am sure you will be able to find one somewhere in Barcelona! They have become quite popular.

 

[jrs_mommy]

Great pictures

Last summer in Lisbon my daughter bartered for a fedora with a pick ribbon and she loved the hat so much, but then someone stole it from the deck chair near the mickey pool, she keeps reminding me that I owe her a hat, so I will have to look for them in Rome.

What the girls did to keep cool was use the spray bottles filled with water, and that really helped keep them cool especially when we were on the top of a hopon/hopoff bus, and they also got fans.

It was hot when we were there but it did not bother us as much as the heat and humidity in Orlando does, does it get humid in Rome?

Ack! Thats a sin that someone stole her hat

On the bright side your daughters are just gorgeous!

 

[RoniBoBoni]

I love pictures! Thanks for sharing! Casey, your son is adorable!
I don't do good with hats, I think I am gonna carry around an umbrella - the parsoles are cute, but they just seem flimsy too me. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I know I am probably the only one left in the world who doesn't do facebook. If you can post a pic that would be great. I'm now on a mission to find a cute sun hat for this trip!!

I am a silver member, so hopefully there will still be Palo slots open for that first night. I can't wait to see some 7 night Med Navigators to get an idea of when these shows will be.

I have never used face book so I can join your club

Looking forward to 7 night navigators as well.

Don't worry ladies I didn't get on facebook until fairly recently and I ONLY friend far flung family and friends I really care about (well, and Marika and any of her friends who as--spying)--I don't want 200 "friends to keep up with, my life is complicated enough as is

I visited Rome twice last year (once in July and once in November) and many people had parasols. They sold them EVERYWHERE! People even used them on the open top buses! The sun and heat is BRUTAL! I will be bringing the one I bought last year for sure! They are great!! Only around 5 Euros too! Some people used their umbrellas. Oh and I also saw alot of people wearing Fedora hats. (men and women)



Hop on hop off bus (notice the parasols on the bus as well as in the distance on the right)

Right before he broke it LOL! Good thing they are cheap!


Mmmmm Gelato! Right near the Trevi fountain!


My baby wearing his Fedora in front of our hotel

Your son is just adorable
Rio currently has about 6 or 7 fedoras--he wears them all the time Dave has one (hard to find them to fit his big head) which he wears on vacation too.

In Villafranche we are planning to go to the Villa Ephrussi (sp) by taxi after lunch. We will be happy to share a taxi with anyone heading there.

Please note that a guide or tour there will only be in French. I saw that on their website.

There is another Villa in the neighborhood of the Villa Ephrissi that also looks interesting. A combination ticket is offered for both villas.

I believe it said that the self guided tours are available in various languages (including English)--so at least there is something.

Those fedora hats are cute!!! Where can I buy them? Barcelona, Villefranche, or only Italy? How much do they usually cost? And the parasol will be a must ( what a great souvenir)!

We mostly buy them at H&M (I think there are a few of those in the US now) and TK Maxx (which is owned by the people who own TJ Max). You may find that they are pretty easy to get even at home, if you are looking for them.

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Hi,

I was wondering where you are staying in barcelona if coming into barcelona the day before?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Hi,

I was wondering where you are staying in barcelona if coming into barcelona the day before?

We are staying at the Marriott Airport Barcelona. They have a pre-cruise package that includes transfers to the port. They also have a shuttle that will pick you up at the airport ( if you stay post cruise you can catch the shuttle back to the airport). The shuttle is free. There is also a free shuttle into the city as well. We are doing the pre-cruise package and staying one night post cruise.

 

[OhioDisneyDavid]

My wife & I are among the group that got bumped off the Sept 3rd Med Cruise and are lucky enough to cruise with all of you!

This is our first Disney Cruise, first time out of the country, first Med Cruise and first time posting on the Dis.

I have read through all the posts that everyone has listed and learned a great deal. Learning more every day.

I have also done some research on excursions. We are likely going to go with a private car on the Italian ports. A friend of mine has used and highly recomends Unforgettable Tuscany. They have done a great job and we are looking forward to going on the tours with them.

Still deciding on other ports on what to do.

I am a rookie as you can tell. Be patient if I do or say something silly.

 

[NHdisneylover]

My wife & I are among the group that got bumped off the Sept 3rd Med Cruise and are lucky enough to cruise with all of you!

This is our first Disney Cruise, first time out of the country, first Med Cruise and first time posting on the Dis.

I have read through all the posts that everyone has listed and learned a great deal. Learning more every day.

I have also done some research on excursions. We are likely going to go with a private car on the Italian ports. A friend of mine has used and highly recomends Unforgettable Tuscany. They have done a great job and we are looking forward to going on the tours with them.

Still deciding on other ports on what to do.

I am a rookie as you can tell. Be patient if I do or say something silly.

Welcome I think sillinss is pretty much always welcome too Who all is sailing with you?

 

[austraveler]

Hi,

I was wondering where you are staying in barcelona if coming into barcelona the day before?

We are staying at the AC diplmatic. We booked through expedia for $220 for the fve of us. We can use the Disney transfers from the hotel to the port because we are at one of the hotels they try andbook for you. Theit price was substantially more.

 

[OhioDisneyDavid]

Welcome I think sillinss is pretty much always welcome too Who all is sailing with you?

We are empty nesters and this will be our celebration cruise for my wife and I for +31 yr anniversary and the wife getting her Master's Degree. Just the two of us!

I saw from other posts that dressing up for formal and pirate nights are kinda up in the air. Do most people do this? 50/50 or just a few?

We are staying an extra three nights on the front of the cruise in Barcelona at the Hilton Diagonal Mar and plan to see the city on the double decker bus. We have done this in NYC, Boston, San Francisco and Washinton DC. The ability to jump on/off can't be beat and it let's you spend time at the spots that interest.

Another question, will there be an opportunity to meet/greet all of you while on the Magic?

 

[NHdisneylover]

We are empty nesters and this will be our celebration cruise for my wife and I for +31 yr anniversary and the wife getting her Master's Degree. Just the two of us!

I saw from other posts that dressing up for formal and pirate nights are kinda up in the air. Do most people do this? 50/50 or just a few?

Another question, will there be an opportunity to meet/greet all of you while on the Magic?

Wow--31 years and a masters are both great reasons to celebrate.

Our experience has been that most people do dress nicer than normal for formal night. For a few that is a tux on the men. I would say at least 50-60% are in a tux or suit/sports jacket with tie and about another 25% wear a dress shirt and tie. Of the remainder--many will not go to the main dining room that night but a few will in just a button down or golf shirt (ladies will be in equivalent dress for women).

For pirate night our experience is somewhere between 10-25% of adults will really dress up (full or mostly full costumes)--it varies greatly by how many repeat cruisers are on a given itinerary. At least 50% of kids usually do as well. Another good sized percentage of adults have some "minor" costumes (pirate t-shirts, pirate Mickey ears, hats, etc) --but there are plenty of people (probably 30-50%) who have nothing but the scarf they hand out at dinner.

As for meeting: usually the groups set up a time and place to try to meet up as we get closer. Often it is right before or after the muster drill at the Promenade lounge. We can also consider getitng ggroup lanyards with nametags to make identifying each other easy (and hte custom lanyards are much softeer and more comfortable to wear than DCLs and make a great souvineer)---more on those later, I have to run Rio (my son) to tap class now.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Hats galore. Baseball caps are definitely worn in Europe although they definitely get hot. Fedoras are rather popular. They can still be a bit hot, however, are better than baseball caps. They can be found in H&M, C&A, and most other clothing stores for about 10 euro or less. Personally, I love buckets hats. They are often made of very lightweight material (therefore cool), have a brim (keeps the sun out of your eyes) unlike an equally thin bandanna, are super comfy, and a perfect for characters to sign (a major plus when I was little). My bother is a fan of fedoras and old fashioned news boy caps. They are also a lightweight material with a brim and are seen fairly often on men, however, very rarely on boys. Sun hats (the type with big floppy brims) are also seen a lot in Summer on woman. They can be lightweight material and like I said they have a big brim. I have never seen the headbands that everybody is talking about in Germany, however, maybe they are more popular in southern Europe. There is a lot less sun up here.
Well, that pretty much sums up my opinions and knowledge on hats and sun, hats in Europe, and hats in general.

Somebody wanted to know what do to in Villefranche so here is the bit I know about it.
On one of the med cruises my family did last year we just stayed in Villefranche and had a lovely day at the beach. It was towards the end of the cruise and we did not want to try to do anything complicated. Villefranche is definitely a nice town all by its self. We spent half a day there and came back to the ship for lunch. We had a really nice time.
That afternoon my parents decided to take the train to Nice. They said that getting there was easy, however, the beach there was rocky and in general it was a dirty crowded town and were not very impressed.
This trip we are going to Monaco with the train, and that looks like it will be very interesting. We will probably just spend half a day and be back to the ship for lunch.

I hope that some of that is helpful.

This is Marika. Sorry I forgot to log my mom out and me in.

 

[TJFrack]

We are staying at the AC diplmatic. We booked through expedia for $220 for the fve of us. We can use the Disney transfers from the hotel to the port because we are at one of the hotels they try andbook for you. Theit price was substantially more.

Interesting, because I just tried the same thing and got turned down. I booked at one of the suggested Disney hotels and they just turned me away for transfers and told me to take a taxi. Usually disney doesn't turn money away....I am kind of surprised.

 

[TJFrack]

My wife & I are among the group that got bumped off the Sept 3rd Med Cruise and are lucky enough to cruise with all of you!

This is our first Disney Cruise, first time out of the country, first Med Cruise and first time posting on the Dis.

I have read through all the posts that everyone has listed and learned a great deal. Learning more every day.

I have also done some research on excursions. We are likely going to go with a private car on the Italian ports. A friend of mine has used and highly recomends Unforgettable Tuscany. They have done a great job and we are looking forward to going on the tours with them.

Still deciding on other ports on what to do.

I am a rookie as you can tell. Be patient if I do or say something silly.

Welcome!! We were looking to split the costs of some of the private tours with other people. We have already booked Pisa, Florence and Rome, but more people can be added. Another couple was also interested in splitting the tours so it would be 6 adults total. Let me know if you want details sent and prices. would love to be able to lower the costs for all involved.